Abstract
The location of possible glacial refugia of six Apostasioideae representatives is estimated based on ecological niche modeling analysis. The distribution of their suitable niches during the last glacial maximum (LGM) is compared with their current potential and documented geographical ranges. The climatic factors limiting the studied species occurrences are evaluated and the niche overlap between the studied orchids is assessed and discussed. The predicted niche occupancy profiles and reconstruction of ancestral climatic tolerances suggest high level of phylogenetic niche conservatism within Apostasioideae.
Highlights
The orchid subfamily Apostasioideae includes only two genera, Apostasia and Neuwiedia which are restricted in their distribution to Asia and Australia
Our research focused on estimation of the location of possible glacial refugia of studied orchids during the last glacial maximum (LGM) and to evaluate postglacial changes in the distribution of their ecological niches using ecological niche modeling (ENM) analysis
Suitable niches of Neuwiedia zollingeri during LGM were located in islands west of Sunda, eastern Mindanao, Sulawesi and smaller islands north-east of Sahul
Summary
The orchid subfamily Apostasioideae includes only two genera, Apostasia and Neuwiedia which are restricted in their distribution to Asia and Australia. They are small to mediumsized terrestrial plants producing elongated, fibrous roots. Their leathery, plicate leaves are spirally arranged, spreading or suberect. Inflorescences are terminal, racemose, few- to many-flowered. Flowers are actinomorphic to slightly zygomorphic, with lip similar to petals or slightly broader (Xinqi, Gale & Cribb, 2009). In apostasioid orchids the column part is usually obscure. All stigma lobes are similar to each other in size and shape. Pollen grains do not form any pollinia (Szlachetko & Rutkowski, 2000)
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