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It is the "golden snub-nosed monkey" of the plant kingdom
It is scarce and extremely difficult to survive
It is listed in China as a list of extremely small populations
It is also listed as a critically endangered species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red Conservation List
It is the rhubarb shrimp ridge orchid
College of Life Sciences, Nanchang University
Professor Yang Baiyun's team
After five years of perseverance
Finally solved the problem of the return of the rhubarb flower shrimp ridge orchid
Contributed to the conservation of biodiversity "Jiangxi Power"
Let's take a look!
In the mountains of Jinggangshan in Jiangxi, Kunshan in Hunan and Jingxian in Anhui, since November last year, there has been a quiet increase in the number of artificially transplanted herbaceous plants of the same species. These seemingly ordinary green grasses are known as the "golden snub-nosed monkeys" of the plant kingdom - rhubarb shrimp ridge orchid.
Rhubarb-flowered shrimp ridge orchid is an earthy plant of the orchid family Shrimp Ridge Orchid genus, its flowers are large, pure yellow, very ornamental value, and has won grand prizes or gold medals at the World Orchid Expo many times. However, due to habitat and man-made destruction, there are less than 300 wild resources in the country, which are only found in Jiangxi, Anhui and Hunan. In 2012, it was included in China's list of very small populations, and was also listed as a critically endangered (CR) species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red Conservation List.
After nearly five years of in-depth research, the team of Professor Yang Baiyun of the College of Life Sciences of our university has found out the distribution of Rhubarb shrimp ridge orchid in China, conducted a detailed investigation and analysis of its habitat, and collected a large number of first-hand information. At the same time, it has also carried out multidisciplinary comprehensive research on biological characteristics, pollination biology, species distribution model, population ecology and reproductive biology, revealed the endangerment mechanism leading to the rhubarb shrimp ridge orchid, established a breeding system of sterile culture and fungal symbiosis culture, has produced tens of thousands of seedlings, in 2019 there have been nearly 10,000 seedlings, transplanted to the field environment of Jiangxi, Hunan and Anwei provinces in two batches, the current seedlings are growing well, and new shoots have been issued, in order to strengthen the protection of global biodiversity, Promoting green development has contributed to the "Jiangxi power".
New seedlings of rhubarb shrimp ridge orchid transplanted to Jinggangshan grow new shoots
Professor Yang Baiyun squatted in the deep mountains of Jinggang Mountain to study wild rhubarb flower shrimp ridge orchid
Luo Yibo, chairman of the Asian Regional Committee of the IUCN Orchid Expert Group, researcher and doctoral supervisor of the Beijing Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that China is one of the countries with the richest biodiversity in the world, and it is also one of the countries with serious threats to biodiversity, and it is urgent to strengthen biodiversity conservation. Yang Baiyun's scientific research team has made a major breakthrough in saving the rhubarb shrimp ridge orchid, filling the gap and is worthy of appreciation. He strongly recommended Professor Yang Baiyun to bring the scientific research results to the 24th World Orchid Congress held in Australia in 2023, to represent China to show and share the results to the world, and to promote the global strengthening of biodiversity conservation and the creation of ecological civilization.
The team plans for future research
1. In-depth study of pollination mechanism
At present, no other shrimp ridge orchid plants have been found to be pollinated by wood bees, and the morphology of the rhubarb shrimp ridge orchid is more unique than that of other shrimp ridge orchids, and the reasons for this adaptive evolution require more research in terms of phylogenetic and pollination behavior. Secondly, in terms of population inbreeding decline, inbred and cross-fertilized seeds can also be quantified by comparing the average size of embryos, and germination rates need to be compared by large-scale sowing of seeds in different pollination methods. Third, in addition to terpenes in the flower odor factor, whether other volatile substances or mixtures are attractive to wood bees needs more experimental verification. In addition, the regional pollinators of the distribution of other rhubarb shrimp ridge orchids in China are not clear, and pollination ecological surveys should be continued in these areas.
2. Species distribution model limitations
There are some inherent limitations and challenges in the establishment and analysis of species distribution models in this study. First, the field survey is not comprehensive enough, the species distribution data used do not necessarily represent the typical distribution patterns of all species, and may produce artificial bias, such as the survey density in remote areas and complex terrain is less than that of areas with developed traffic, and there are very few distribution data on species that are not valued by researchers, such as the Chinese velvet bee. Second, biological factors are not used as predictive model variables, so the simulation of species distribution only stays at environmentally appropriate or theoretical niches, rather than the actual niches of species. Finally, the integration of different future climate models and scenarios increases the model's tolerance for uncertainty, but the use of the model for future environmental conditions beyond modern training data (i.e., extrapolation) also has an impact on the reliability of the prediction results. In addition, factors that are not included in the model, such as the migration capacity or migration barriers of species and the rate of evolution in response to environmental changes, may also affect the future distribution of species. Therefore, in the future, more comprehensive analysis should be carried out on the basis of improved data and model conditions.
3. Continuous artificial reproduction and regression
At present, effective germination can be produced by aseptic seeding and symbiotic germination, but due to material and time limitations, this study has not yet explored the most suitable culture scheme for rhubarb shrimp ridge orchid, including the selection of culture medium, pretreatment method, the use of growth regulators and the transfer after symbiotic germination. Next, you should find a culture protocol that can maximize the seed germination rate and germination rate, or use protocob proliferation to speed up the culture. After identification of existing symbiotic fungi, the search for other mycorrhizal fungi that promote germination and seedling growth should continue and the distribution range of these symbiotic fungi should be determined. For wild return, in addition to continuing to plant and statistical regression effects outside the native areas of Jiangxi, Anhui and Hunan, it is also necessary to try to introduce breeding in other suitable areas, and it is also necessary to carry out long-term monitoring and continuous maintenance of seedlings until new populations that can self-renew are produced.
Recently, CCTV News, People's Daily, Jiangxi News Client and Jiangxi Daily have made special reports on this.
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