Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
6.5
4.0
Journals
Plants
Special Issues
Orchid Conservation and Biodiversity
share announcement

Orchid Conservation and Biodiversity

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Ecology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 February 2025 | Viewed by 3932

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Zuzana Štípková

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Belidla 986/4a, 60300 Brno, Czech Republic
Interests: ecology; population dynamics; extinction rate; biodiversity; conservation and distribution patterns of orchids
Dr. Vladan Djordjević

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for Botany and Botanical Garden, Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Takovska 43, 11 000 Belgrade, Serbia
Interests: orchidaceae; plant ecology; biodiversity; distribution patterns; ecological preferences and conservation of orchids

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Understanding temporal changes in the distribution and abundance of various species is one of the key goals of conservation biology. In recent decades, the diversity, abundance, and distribution of many species have declined dramatically at an unprecedented rate, mainly because of habitat loss and fragmentation. The global rate of species extinction is now up to a hundred times higher than the average over the last 10 million years. To prevent this massive extinction, or at least to reduce its speed, we need very good management plans for the areas where most of the species that are prone to extinction occur, which will be based on good knowledge of the distribution of these species. Studies on the changes in the distributions of species provide critical information on trends in extinctions and information on what causes these changes. This is especially true for endangered groups of plants, such as orchids.

This Special Issue of Plants on orchid conservation and biodiversity aims to provide new insights into orchid diversity, evolution, distribution patterns, habitat and ecological preferences, extinction rates, and speciation drivers across the world. Research papers on systematics, reproductive biology, ecology, evolution, and biogeography, as well as orchid spatial distribution and diversification across ecological and biogeographical gradients connected with their conservation and biodiversity, are welcome.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Zuzana Štípková
Dr. Vladan Djordjević
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • orchid
  • conservation
  • biodiversity
  • distribution patterns
  • speciation
  • ecology
  • biogeography
  • evolution
  • reproductive biology
  • extinction

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

11 pages, 1264 KiB  
Article
Distribution of Population Sizes in Metapopulations of Threatened Organisms—Implications for Conservation of Orchids
by Zuzana Štípková and Pavel Kindlmann
Plants 2025, 14(3), 369; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14030369 - 25 Jan 2025
Viewed by 331
Abstract
Species are disappearing worldwide, and it is likely that the rate of their disappearance will increase. The most important factors responsible for this are assumed to be changes in climate and land use. To determine the probability of extinction of a given species, [...] Read more.
Species are disappearing worldwide, and it is likely that the rate of their disappearance will increase. The most important factors responsible for this are assumed to be changes in climate and land use. To determine the probability of extinction of a given species, it must be viewed as a metapopulation composed of many populations. In plants, seeds are spread by wind or water (passive dispersers), unlike active dispersers, which can actively look for a suitable site of their species. Thus, while active dispersers can locate a suitable site, passive dispersers often fail to arrive at a suitable site. The following question arises: is it better for the survival of a metapopulation of passive dispersers to concentrate on conserving a few large populations, each of which will produce many propagules, or on many small populations, each of which will produce only few propagules? Here, we address the question of which of these strategies will maximize the likelihood of the survival of such a metapopulation, using orchids as a model. We concluded that small populations should be preferentially preserved. Small populations are more numerous and more likely to occur more widely in the region studied and therefore a larger proportion of the seeds they produce is more likely to land in suitable habitats than that produced by the fewer large populations. For conservation, there is a possibility to extend the results to other taxa. However, this must be carried out with caution and must consider the taxon in question. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Orchid Conservation and Biodiversity)
15 pages, 2623 KiB  
Article
Does Reproductive Success in Orchids Affect the Evolution of Their Number of Flowers?
by Iva Traxmandlová, Michaela Steffelová and Pavel Kindlmann
Plants 2025, 14(2), 204; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14020204 - 13 Jan 2025
Viewed by 492
Abstract
Species are disappearing worldwide, and changes in climate and land use are commonly assumed to be the most important causes. Organisms are counteracting the negative effects of environmental factors on their survival by evolving various defence strategies, which positively affect their fitness. Here, [...] Read more.
Species are disappearing worldwide, and changes in climate and land use are commonly assumed to be the most important causes. Organisms are counteracting the negative effects of environmental factors on their survival by evolving various defence strategies, which positively affect their fitness. Here, the question addressed is: can evolution shape these defence strategies so that they positively affect the fitness of an organism? This question is complex and depends on the taxa and environmental factors. Therefore, here, only a special case of this question is studied in deceptive species of orchids: reproductive success (RS, ratio of the number of fruits to the number of flowers produced by a plant during the whole season), a commonly used measure of fitness is used to develop a model describing how RS affects the number of flowers, n, of a plant. This model predicts that: (i) the resulting relationship between RS and n is a positively skewed parabola, (ii) the distribution of the numbers of individuals with a specific number (n) of flowers, NI(n), also resembles a parabola and is also positively skewed, and that (iii) the peak of the distribution of NI is to the left of the peak of RS. A large set of data is presented that supports these predictions. If the data set is small, the concave positively skewed parabolic RS–n dependence is obscured by other factors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Orchid Conservation and Biodiversity)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

12 pages, 3511 KiB  
Article
Diversity Patterns of Epiphytic Orchids Along Elevation in the Mountains of Western Nepal
by Manisha Awasthi, Santosh Thapa, Bandana Awasthi, Chae Ryeong Lim, Young Han You and Ki Wha Chung
Plants 2024, 13(22), 3256; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13223256 - 20 Nov 2024
Viewed by 732
Abstract
The biodiversity and distribution of epiphytic orchids are strongly influenced by their relationship with host plants, and environmental variables like elevation, slope, and local climate are key factors in determining the abundance and diversity of these orchids. The aim of this study was [...] Read more.
The biodiversity and distribution of epiphytic orchids are strongly influenced by their relationship with host plants, and environmental variables like elevation, slope, and local climate are key factors in determining the abundance and diversity of these orchids. The aim of this study was to examine the richness of orchid species at different elevations within the research area of Nepal. Sampling was conducted at elevations ranging from 1300 m to 2800 m above sea level, using a systematic sampling technique known as belt transects. Six circular plots with a diameter of 5.6 m were established in a horizontal transect at each site, spaced at least 50 m apart, with 100 elevation interval. The analysis revealed a hump-shaped relationship between orchid species richness and elevation, with the highest species richness observed at altitude of 2100–2200 m. The abundance of orchids was significantly correlated with host characteristics, including habit (shrub/tree), bark texture, nature (deciduous/evergreen), and physical factors. This study underscores the significant contribution of host characteristics and environmental factors in explaining the diversity of epiphytic orchid species along the elevation of the Himalayas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Orchid Conservation and Biodiversity)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 9053 KiB  
Article
Prediction of Suitable Regions for Danxiaorchis yangii Combined with Pollinators Based on the SDM Model
by Xuedie Liu, Can Gao, Guo Yang and Boyun Yang
Plants 2024, 13(21), 3101; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13213101 - 3 Nov 2024
Viewed by 1127
Abstract
Danxiaorchis yangii, a newly discovered fully mycoheterotrophic orchid. It relies on Lysimachia alfredii and Dufourea spp. for pollination, and environmental factors closely influence the growth and distribution of these pollinators, which in turn directly affects the growth and reproduction of D. yangii [...] Read more.
Danxiaorchis yangii, a newly discovered fully mycoheterotrophic orchid. It relies on Lysimachia alfredii and Dufourea spp. for pollination, and environmental factors closely influence the growth and distribution of these pollinators, which in turn directly affects the growth and reproduction of D. yangii. Climate change threatens the suitable habitats for these three species, emphasizing the need to understand D. yangii’s response. This study comprehensively utilized the field distribution of D. yangii and related climatic data, along with future climate predictions from global models, to predict the climate suitability areas of D. yangii under two greenhouse gas emission scenarios (SSP245 and SSP370) using species distribution models (SDMs), which encompassed a random forest (RF) model. Additionally, we selected the optimal ensemble model (OEM) for Dufourea spp. and applied generalized boosted models (GBMs) and RF for L. alfredii in our predictions. The study found that precipitation of the driest quarter plays a pivotal role in determining the distribution of D. yangii, with an optimal range of 159 to 730 mm being most conducive to its growth. Comparative analysis further indicated that precipitation exerts a greater influence on D. yangii than temperature. Historically, D. yangii has been predominantly distributed across Jiangxi, Hunan, Zhejiang, and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, with Jiangxi Province containing the largest area of highly suitable habitat, and this distribution largely overlaps with the suitable regions of its pollinators. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Orchid Conservation and Biodiversity)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-4
Back to TopTop