Scientists are in a race against time to save orchids since they found a dirt fungus that the plants need to grow. They have been breeding the fungus and then moving them to places where orchids grow so that they can help the plants grow.
Scientists from the U.K. and the U.S. set up stands with rare, endangered orchids at the recent Chelsea Flower Show to bring attention to these plants. Scientists say that a drop in the number of orchids is one of the first signs that the temperature is changing in ways that affect soil microbiology and the number of pollinators.
Researchers at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, led by Melissa McCormick, said, “They need certain fungi to grow; they have to find their way to the underground habitat; and then they need certain pollinators to set seed.” So they pick up on all the different things that are moving above and below ground, and this makes them a sign of how good the environment is.
McCormick said that they are putting in a lot of work to find other types of fungi that other orchids need to grow well and add them to their surroundings so that they can be protected better. “They tell us what kinds of fungi they need, and we grow them so that they can be used for conservation.” “The Smithsonian has collections of living fungi that can be used for this,” she said.
These people said that this process is hard and takes a long time. They have to make sure that the right fungus is put with the right orchid because different orchids do better in different conditions.
Peter Zale, who runs the orchid study program at Longwood Garden, said, “Orchids are the largest family of flowering plants in the world, and about half of them are endangered species.” Scientists want people who live near orchids to pay attention to them, learn to recognize them, and take care of them.
