Abstract
Mark-recapture techniques applied to individual orchid plants and to their populations can further our understanding of the factors affecting establishment and survival. Studies need not be limited only to species at risk of extinction. Common or even introduced species may be tracked to determine which variables most impact behaviour and to develop effective conservation management techniques. Only long tracking periods are likely to intercept critical stochastic events. A 20-year study (1985–2004) of the introduced orchid,Epipactis helleborine, in Gatineau Park, Québec, Canada, has provided insight into the behaviour of this weedy species. We have marked 1591 plants over this period, 62% of which emerged only once. High late-season rainfall had a positive effect on emergence patterns whereas spring drought had a negative impact. The annual emergent population declined from a maximum of 315 plants in 1987 to 23 plants in 2001 following a severe drought in 1991. Twenty-seven plants, all but one of which grow in the vicinity of a large tree, re-emerged after prolonged absences of 7 to 18 years. A group of 15 plants that have shown complex patterns of re-appearance over the last 10 years also encircle this tree while 8 other plants with similar patterns of re-appearance but have not been seen since 1994 were distributed elsewhere in the site. We postulate that the ecological effect of large trees may be critical to the persistence of mycorrhizal associates of both the trees and the orchids and hence contribute to the extended hypogeal survival of the orchid.
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Light, M.H.S., MacConaill, M. Appearance and disappearance of a weedy orchid,Epipactis helleborine . Folia Geobot 41, 77–93 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02805263
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02805263