Abstract
AbstractTropical forest ecosystems are rich in epiphytes that make up a significant portion of the overall plant diversity. However, epiphytic plants are often understudied due to inaccessibility and the lack of basic ecological information poses challenges to their conservation, particularly in a time of rapid global change. The mule-ear orchid,Trichocentrum undulatum(Orchidaceae), is a large flowering epiphyte found in southern Florida (USA), the Greater, and Lesser Antilles including Cuba. The plant is Florida state-listed as endangered with only one remaining small and declining population in a coastal mangrove forest due to historical extraction and habitat destruction. Currently, there is no systematic understanding of the species’ habitat requirements. To fill this void, we compared the habitat and microhabitat of the species on its northern distribution edge (southern Florida) and the core range (in Cuba). The Florida population has only one host species,Conocarpus erectus, found in one habitat type. This is in sharp contrast to the 92 documented hosts and 5 habitats across 8 provinces in Cuba. Based on our findings from Cuba, we suggest conservation and restoration options in Florida by proposing potential suitable host plants and habitats. Proactive restoration of this species will help to ease the threat from sea-level rise to the species by securing and expanding range margins.
Highlights
Epiphytic plants constitute a significant proportion of the biodiversity in tropical forests (Gentry and Dodson 1987, Kress 1989)
The goals of this study are to: (a) identify host trees of Trichocentrum undulatum (Sw.) Ackerman & M.W.Chase in the core range area, i.e. Cuba; (b) compare and contrast host plant community types in Cuba and in southern Florida, the species’ northern distribution edge; and (c) identify potential suitable but unoccupied habitats for T. undulatum in southern Florida where the species is highly threatened with extinction
The Everglades National Park (ENP) population site is known as a coastal transitional buttonwood woodland or hammock (TBH) with a calcite marl substrate and thin detritus layer at approximately 0.3 m elevation above sea level (25°10'18" N, 80°54'28" W) (Ross et al 2000, Rutchey et al 2006, Saha et al 2009)
Summary
Epiphytic plants constitute a significant proportion of the biodiversity in tropical forests (Gentry and Dodson 1987, Kress 1989). There is a need to plan population translocations to counter current and anticipated future threats, as is done with some endangered plants worldwide (Liu et al 2015, Liu et al 2020, Maschinski and Haskins 2012) The success of such actions depends on understanding the habitat limitations for the species of concern. A good understanding of host species requirements can be used to inform the conservation strategy of threatened epiphytic species (Benzing 1978, Callaway et al 2002, Segovia-Rivas et al 2018, Yang et al 2017). Studies of this kind are rare in the tropics, especially on orchids, one of the most diverse plant families among tropical plants
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