5 research outputs found
Popolazioni spontanee di orchidee in ambito urbano (Ferrara e Provincia)
No full textQuesto lavoro evidenzia la presenza di popolazioni spontanee di orchidee negli ambienti urbani di Ferrara e Provincia, sia in contesti pubblici che privati. Lo studio ha inizio con la comparsa in Orto Botanico di pochi individui di Ophrys apifera per poi continuare con la stabilizzazione della popolazione e la colonizzazione di altre specie di orchidee terrestri. Nello specifico, questa ricerca si focalizza su popolazioni di Anacamptis pyramidalis,
sia di pochi individui che di alcune centinaia. Lo studio è stato possibile grazie al coinvolgimento dei privati che hanno segnalato ai ricercatori la presenza di orchidee all’interno dei loro giardini. Le popolazioni grandi e piccole sono state indagate a livello di caratteri morfologici e riproduttivi utilizzati poi per calcolare la vitalità delle popolazioni. Lo studio evidenzia anche come sia importante la corretta gestione delle aree prative pubbliche
e private per migliorare la biodiversità urbana.This paper highlights the presence of wild orchid populations in urban environments in Ferrara and province, both in public and private lawns.
The study begins with the appearance in the Botanical Garden of Ferrara of a few individuals of Ophrys apifera and continues with population stabilization and colonization of other terrestrial orchid species. Specifically, this research focuses on Anacamptis pyramidalis, with populations from
few to several hundred individuals. The study was made possible through the involvement of persons who reported the presence of orchids in their
gardens. Large and small populations were investigated based on morphological and reproductive characters then used to calculate population
viability. The study also highlights how important proper management of public and private meadow areas is for improving urban biodiversity
Local Adaptation and Phenotypic Plasticity Shape the Response to Climate Warming but Drought Hinders Resilience to Heat Waves of the Arctic-Alpine Herb Viscaria alpina
No full textComplex Responses to Climate Warming of Arctic‐Alpine Plant Populations From Different Geographic Provenance
No full textABSTRACT The distribution of ‘cold‐adapted’ plant species is expected to undergo severe range loss in the near future. Species distribution models predicting species' future distribution often do not integrate species ability to respond to environmental factors through genetic traits or phenotypic plasticity. This especially applies to arctic‐alpine species whose present‐day range is strongly fragmented because of the cyclic vicissitudes they experienced during the Ice Age. We cultivated plants from four European populations of the arctic‐alpine species Viscaria alpina from different geographic provenances. Two of the populations were from northern high‐latitude regions in Scandinavia; the remaining two populations were from southern mid‐latitude mountains. In both areas, one population was from a colder site and the other from a warmer site. We cultivated the plants in controlled thermal conditions with two treatments, one mimicking temperature conditions at the warmest site and the other adding 2 day‐temperature peaks mimicking short‐term heat waves. At the end of the experiment, we measured growth in length and mortality of all plants along with a set of ecophysiological variables. We also assessed phylogeographic variation in the four populations based on plastid‐DNA sequences. The plants from northern provenances grew more than those from the southern provenances. The plants of all populations performed overall well, in terms of growth rate and ecophysiology, under the heat spell, with the plants of the Swedish population exhibiting the highest phenotypic plasticity. Such a pattern was associated with the highest genetic variation in the Swedish population. Mortality of the plants cultivated under warm temperatures was overall low, but mortality strongly increased in the plants exposed to the heat spell. We conclude that plants of V. alpina populations from different geographic provenances are generally able to cope with scenarios resulting from global warming, but drought hampers resilience to heat waves through increased mortality
How Effective Is Environmental Protection for Ensuring the Vitality of Wild Orchid Species? A Case Study of a Protected Area in Italy
No full textOrchids are among the plants most threatened by anthropic impact and environmental changes. Therefore, all known orchid species are protected in several countries by regional, national and international legislation. Several studies have cast doubts on the effectiveness of legislation to ensure the protection of wild orchids. We assessed the vitality of four orchid populations in a coastal area in Northern Italy, by monitoring the vegetative and reproductive traits of the orchid populations growing both in the protected sites comprising the Natura 2000 network, and in non-protected sites. We also monitored the level of environmental threat to orchid vitality. The early-flowering deceptive species (Ophrys sphegodes and Anacamptis morio) exhibited high vegetative vitality and experienced similar levels of environmental threat in the protected and non-protected areas. However, their reproductive success was strongly jeopardized, probably by a failed pollination that impeded the fruit set. The late-flowering, partially or totally rewarding species (Anacamptis pyramidalis and Anacamptis coriophora) were more strongly impacted by spring mowing and ungulate herbivory and alien species. Only for A. coriophora were the herbivory and alien species invasions lower at the protected vs. non-protected sites, which ensured a higher population vitality at the protected sites. We conclude that the environmental protection in our study area is ineffective for preserving orchids without targeted actions against specific environmental threats
