Conservation issues and infraspecific polymorphism of Cypripedium guttatum on selected locations in Russia

Abstract

The problem of protection and conservation of rare and endangered plant species in the wild is currently the topic of discussion and research worldwide. The Orchidaceae plants are of special concern. Orchids are so well adapted to their environments. Moreover, they have special requirements that makes it difficult to transplant them from the wild and they are rarely surviving after. They are therefore a key group in conservation. This research aimed to study the polymorphism of Cypripedium guttatum flowers in their natural populations on selected locations in Russia. On the basis of studying C. guttatum populations in Primorsky Krai, Sverdlovsk region, Komi Republic, and Krasnoyarsky Krai, we identified and described five forms of C. guttatum in terms of their flower colouration. A comparison study of the infraspecific structure revealed that the form variation in the studied C. guttatum populations was the highest in Primorsky Krai and the lowest in Sverdlovsk region. A discriminant analysis indicated the following statistically significant morphometric parameters to recognise different forms of C. guttatum: shoot height, leaf width, flower width, height and width of dorsal sepal and staminode width. A population variation analysis was conducted with respect to the following three indicators: the average number of morphs per population, the rare morph ratio in the population, and the similarity index of the studied populations. On the basis of monitoring C. guttatum populations and studying their infraspecific structure, as well as the biology and ecology of this threatened orchid species, we developed a specific conservation project for rare and endangered orchid species complying with the unique biology of these plants.

Development of Clonal Micropropagation Technology for Ludisia Discolor (Ker Gawl.) A. Rich. In Vitro Conditions

“…It was previously shown that in order to preserve rare species of polymorphic orchids, an integrated approach based on population monitoring, research of intraspecific structure, as well as features of biology of both seed and vegetative reproduction should be applied (Shirokov et al, 2020). Our studies of another rare polymorphic orchid, Ludisia discolor, have shown that when seed propagation is carried out in vitro, combined methods of planting with various types of explants should be used: brood buds, immature seeds and seeds from opened capsules.…”

The status of the Dactylorhiza incarnata populations in the Kalba Altai, Kazakhstan

“…The study of the floristic composition of communities with the participation of Orchids has always attracted increased interest. Previously, such work was carried out in neighboring border areas (Egorova and Suleimanova 2021;Shirokov et al 2020).…”

“…The protection and conservation of rare and endangered plant species in general, and species of the Orchidaceae family (Givnish et al 2015;Khapugin 2020), in particular, is impossible without the development of species protection strategies. For this purpose, extensive research is being carried out on Dactylorhiza and closely related genera on the territory of Kazakhstan and neighboring territories (Hedrén 2001;Zheleznaya 2009;Kaki et al 2020;Shirokov et al 2020;Braunschmid et al 2021).…”

Flower morphometry of members of the genus Dactylorhiza Necker ex Nevski (Orchidaceae) from the Altai Mountains of Kazakhstan

“…Its representatives are marked by a high phenotypic variability, which often complicates attempts of drawing borderlines between species even within the same or close plant communities (Naczk 2018 ;Averyanov 1990). These issues have been addressed variously on the basis of morphology (van Straaten 1988;Shipunov et al 2005a), micromorphology (Hedrén 2009;Gamarra et al 2015;Akbulut 2016) morphometry (Tyteca 1999;Pedersen 2002;Shipunov 2005b;Bateman 2006;Ashish 2012;Shirokov 2020), anatomy (Aybeke et al 2010), molecular biology (Bateman et al 2003;Shipunov et al 2004;Devos et al 2006;Pillon et al 2007;Inda et al 2010;Balao 2017), and molecular genetics (Givnish 2015;Efimov 2016;Bateman 2018aBateman , 2018bKakia 2020).…”