Orchids of Mongolia: Taxonomy, Species Richness and Conservation Status

Abstract

Orchidaceae is a diverse, globally important plant family with high conservation assessment and prioritization requirements. The checklist of Orchidaceae in Mongolia was updated based on herbarium materials, literature, and field observations. Mongolian orchids were revised as comprising 26 taxa belonging to 14 genera with major updates were conducted on Herminium and Epipactis. In particular, H. alaschanicum, previously noted in the Alashan Gobi region, was added to the flora of Mongolia based on literature and type specimens. Epipactis helleborine and E. palustris were excluded from the Mongolian flora owing to the absence of herbarium specimens and wild collection from Mongolia. Assessment of all orchid species at the national level resulted in 1, 4, 7, 11, and 2 species as critically endangered (CR), endangered (EN), vulnerable (VU), near threatened (NT), and data deficient (DD), respectively, according to IUCN criteria. Species richness and conservation gap analyses of 970 georeferenced orchid records based on 0.5° × 0.5° grid cells across 16 phytogeographical regions of Mongolia, showed that four phytogeographical regions, Khangai, Khuvgul, Khentii and Mongolian Dauria, have a high number of orchids. Regrettably, most orchid-rich locations in Mongolia are not fully within protected areas, highlighting the need for protection management updates. Based on herbarium collections, we prepared grid distribution maps of the 26 taxa using 40 × 40 km2 grids. Photographs of 18 taxa taken during fieldwork were included, providing valuable information on species morphology and typical habitat.

Flora of Mongolia: annotated checklist of native vascular plants

“…Moreover, 21 taxa listed in the Urgamal et al (2014) were absent from Mongolia based on our extensive research which is given in Suppl. material 2 : Appendix 2 ( Pimenov 2017 ; Ovczinnikova 2019a ; Nesom 2020 ; Baasanmunkh et al 2021b , 2022a ). Due to this high number of synonymization, even after dozens of new species have been discovered in Mongolian flora, change in absolute species numbers appeared to be minor.…”

“…Since Urgamal et al (2014) , 13 new species and one infraspecific taxon from Mongolia have been described as new to science ( Nobis 2014 ; Erst et al 2015 , 2016 ; Kechaykin and Kutsev 2015 ; Yurtseva et al 2016 ; Alexeeva 2018 ; Gundegmaa and Kechaykin 2018 ; Ovczinnikova 2019a , 2020 ; Pyak and Pyak 2019 ; Zhao et al 2019 ; He et al 2020 ; Pyak et al 2020 ). Many new records of vascular plants have also been reported ( Nobis et al 2014 , 2019a ; Doronkin et al 2015 ; Urgamal et al 2016 , 2019 ; Baasanmunkh et al 2019a , b , c , 2020a , b , 2021b , d ; Bazarragchaa et al 2019 ; Erst et al 2019 ; Ovczinnikova 2019b ; Knyazev 2020 ; Shiga et al 2020 ; Yano et al 2021 ), including five genera new to the country, i.e. Matthiola W.T.Aiton, Brassicaceae ( German 2015 ), Onoclea L., Onocleaceae ( Doronkin et al 2015 ), Aldrovanda L., Droseraceae ( Shiga et al 2020 ), Hydrilla L., Hydrocharitaceae ( Shiga et al 2020 ), and Arctium L., Asteraceae ( Javzandolgor et al 2021 ).…”

“…Recently, Troshkina (2021) revised and updated Geraniaceae in Mongolia. Baasanmunkh et al (2021b) compiled a checklist of Orchidaceae , which included notes on their species richness and conservation status. The families Menyanthaceae and Nymphaeaceae were also revised by Baasanmunkh et al (2022a) .…”

“…In particular, the genus Epipactis Zinn. ( Orchidaceae ), for example, had two species that have been proven absent in the country due to the inaccurate location written on the herbarium specimens ( Baasanmunkh et al 2021b ). On the other hand, some genera were not listed in Urgamal et al (2014) ; for example, the genus Phyllodoce Salisb.…”

Updated Checklist of Vascular Plants Endemic to Mongolia

“…Recent (2014-2020) publications related to the discovery, description, and/or first records of taxa in Mongolia were also considered and included Nobis [30], German [19], Bekket et al [31], Kechaykin and Kutsev [32], Kechaykin [33,34], Gundegmaa and Kechaykin [35], Yurtseva et al [36], Erst et al [37], Ovchinnikova and Korolyuk [38], Zhao et al [39], Pyak and Pyak [40], Ovchinnikova [4,41], and Pyak et al [42]. Publications related to a six-year field survey that resulted in addition of new taxa to the region's flora [5][6][7][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52] were also considered.…”