Volume : III, Issue : X, October - 2014

Climate Change And Its Impact On Orchid Productivity

L. C. De, R. P. Medhi

Abstract :

Orchids are the most complex, advanced and successful family of flowers on the planet. Epiphytic orchids usually grow on tree trunks or anches and survive through nutrients from decaying organic matter that accumulates around the root zone and on their leaves and are usually distributed in tropical areas. Terrestrial orchids are originated from temperate regions and can tolerate adverse climatic conditions. Climate change due to global warming interacts with habitat loss and fragmentation, introduced and invasive species and population growths and many ecosystems are likely to undergo severe modification. In Asia, climate change is projected to compound the pressures on natural resources and the environment associated with rapid urbanization, industrialization and economic development. Semi–arid vegetation will tend to be replaced by arid vegetation. Levels of precipitation are likely to change radically in many areas of the world. Increasing temperature may result in vegetational zones gradually moving vertically up mountain sides, both permitting tropical species to subtropical areas, subtropical species to temperate areas and eliminating the species in the highest zones. Epiphytic orchids may be affected in various ways by changes in the availability of light, nutrients and moisture. Climate change is major threat to pollination services and there is a need to conserve plant communities in which orchids live. The combination of higher temperatures and lower rainfall may make forests more susceptible to fire and it may lead to extinction of local species. Majority of orchid species are capable of tolerating dry storage for many decades when stored at –20oC. Liquid nitrogen storage may produce further extensions of life spans of orchid seeds. Living collections are recently underutilized as a conservation tool and there is a need to do more to induce members of the wider orchid community

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Article: Download PDF   DOI : 10.36106/ijsr  

Cite This Article:

L.C. De, R.P. Medhi Climate Change And Its Impact On Orchid Productivity International Journal of Scientific Research, Vol : 3, Issue : 10 October 2014

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