Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction to Orchid Conservation
Why Are Orchids Rare?
What this Book Means to Orchid Conservation
Chapter Outlines
Epilogue on the Future of Orchid Conservation

Chapter 2: In Situ Monitoring, Demographics, and Conservation Instruments
2.1 Background
2.2 Monitoring Methods
2.2.1 Permanent Pegs
2.2.2 Transect Method
2.2.3 Plot Method
2.2.4 Mapping and Recording Orchid Recruitment
Case Study 2.1
2.3 Essential Parameters in Demographic Studies
Case Study 2.2
Case Study 2.3
2.4 Photo Points as Tools in Monitoring
Case Study 2.4
2.5 Recovery Plans for Terrestrial Orchids
2.6 International Conservation Instruments
2.6.1 How the Red Listing Process Works

Chapter 3: Orchid Mycorrhizal Associations
3.1 Background
3.2 Orchid Mycorrhizal Dependency and Nutrition
Case Study 3.1
3.3 Identity and Specificity
Case Study 3.2
3.4 Achlorophyllous Orchids
3.5 Orchid Mycorrhizal Methods
3.6 Fungal Culture Isolations
3.6.1 Plant Material Collection
Procedure 3.1
3.6.2 Surface Sterilization
3.6.3 Isolation of Pelotons
Procedure 3.2
3.7 Mycorrhizal Culture Growth and Storage
Procedure 3.3
3.8 Media for Fungal Culture
Procedure 3.4
Procedure 3.5
Procedure 3.6
Procedure 3.7
Procedure 3.8
Procedure 3.9

Chapter 4: Orchid Seed Germination Techniques
4.1 Background
4.2 Mycorrhizal Fungi for Seed Germination of Terrestrial Orchids
4.3 Properties of Orchid Seeds
4.4 Hand Pollination for Seed Production
4.5 Seed Collection
Procedure 4.1
4.6 Sowing Mature Seed
Case Study 4.1
4.6.1 Seed Viability Staining
Procedure 4.2
Case Study 4.2
4.6.2 Sterilants
Case Study 4.3
4.6.3 Stages of Seed Germination
4.6.4 Seed sowing—Packet Method
Procedure 4.3
4.6.5 Seed Sowing—Syringe Method
Procedure 4.4
4.6.6 Seed Sowing—Direct Sterilization
Procedure 4.5
4.7 Sowing Techniques for Immature Seed
Procedure 4.6
Case Study 4.4

Chapter 5: Assessing Mycorrhiza in Soil
5.1 Background
5.2 Mycorrhizal Specificity in Soil
5.3 Recruitment Limitation
5.4 Distribution of Mycorrhiza in Soils
5.5 Niche Exploitation and Competition
5.6 In Situ Seed Baiting Methods
5.6.1 The Slide Frame Baiting Method
Procedure 5.1
Case Study 5.1
5.6.2 Nylon Mesh In Situ Seed Baiting
Procedure 5.2
5.6.3 Seed baiting for epiphytic orchids
Case Study 5.2
5.6.4 Seed Germination in Retrieved Soil
Procedure 5.3

Chapter 6: Orchid Culture for Conservation
6.1 Background
6.2 Symbiotic Orchid Propagation
6.3 Seedling Development
Case Study 6.1
6.4 Transfer to Soil Mix
6.4.1 Sand/Vermiculite over Agar Growth Containers
Procedure 6.1
6.5 Pot cultivation
6.5.1 Requirements for Growing Terrestrial Orchids
Case Study 6.2
6.5.2 Potting Mixes
6.5.3 Pasteurizing Potting Mixes
6.5.4 Growing Conditions
6.5.5 Disease and Pest Control
6.5.6 Repotting of Terrestrial Orchids
Procedure 6.2
6.6 Direct Seeding
6.6.1 Inoculating Potting Mix
Procedure 6.3
6.6.2 Mature Plants

Chapter 7: Herbaceous Terrestrial Orchid Translocation
7.1 Background
7.2 Requirements for Successful Orchid Translocation
7.3 Propagation for Translocation
Case Study 7.1
7.4 Assisted Migration
7.5 Framework for Translocation Projects
7.6 Restoring Habitats Suitable for Orchids
Case Study 7.2
7.7 Methods for Terrestrial Orchid Translocation
7.7.1 Out-planting Juvenile Herbaceous Terrestrial Orchids
Case Study 7.3
7.7.2 Out-planting by Tuber/Rhizome Transfer
7.7.3 In Situ Seed Sowing
Case Study 7.4
7.7.4 Transplanting Mature Wild Plants
7.8 Pre- and Post-translocation Surveying and Monitoring
Case Study 7.5

Chapter 8: Orchid Pollination
8.1 Background
8.2 Pollinator Limitation
8.2.1 Testing for Pollination Limitation
8.2.2 Resource Limitation
8.3 Pollination Strategies
8.3.1 Pollination by Reward (Food Advertisement)
8.3.2 Pollination by Deception
8.3.3 Food Deception
Case Study 8.1
8.3.4 Sexual Deception
Case Study 8.2
8.4 Pollinator Inferences in Conservation Planning
8.5 Pollinator Chemistry

Chapter 9: Genetic Techniques in Orchid Conservation
9.1 Background
9.2 Population Genetics
9.2.1 Principal Population Genetic Markers for Conservation
9.3 Molecular Phylogenetics/Systematics
Case Study 9.1
Case Study 9.2
9.4 Quantitative Genetics
9.5 Mycorrhizal Specificity in Orchid Populations
9.6 Considerations in Undertaking a Conservation Genetics Study
9.7 Scoring Molecular Data
9.8 Analysis of Data
Case Study 9.3
9.9 Technical Notes: DNA Extraction
Procedure 9.1
Procedure 9.2
9.9.1 DNA Extraction of Mycorrhizal Fungi

Chapter 10: Storage of Orchid Seed and Mycorrhiza
10.1 Background
10.2 Securing Collections of High Conservation Value
10.3 Seed Quality
10.4 Orchid Seedbanking
Case Study 10.1
10.5 Vouchering Specimens
10.6 Genetic Considerations in Seed Collection Programs
10.7 Living Collections as an Ex Situ Conservation Tool
Procedure 10.1
10.8 Long-term Storage of Orchid-mycorrhizal Fungi
Case Study 10.2
Procedure 10.2
10.9 Alginate Encapsulation of Orchid Seed and Fungus
Procedure 10.3
Chapter 11: References

About the Author

Introduced to the orchids of the Swan Coastal Plain in Perth, Western Australia by his father, Nigel Swarts developed a keen interest in the Orchidaceae. The re-discovery of a threatened spider orchid in bushland close to his childhood home paved the way for a future in orchid conservation research. Nigel received his undergraduate degree in Environmental Biology at Curtin University. He then completed his Ph.D. with distinction on the conservation of critically endangered orchids at the University of Western Australia. Nigel's research has led to a better understanding of the role of mycorrhizal specialization in the ecology and rarity of the Orchidaceae. His work has contributed to the development of new approaches to the conservation and recovery of terrestrial orchids based on key biological and ecological requirements for orchid survival. During his first post-doc, Nigel embarked on an ambitious project to conserve all of Western Australia's terrestrial orchid seed and fungi in perpetuity. Nigel managed the orchid research programs of the Kings Park Botanic Gardens, supervised students, and trained teams of volunteers in the ex situ culture and propagation of Western Australian orchids using many of the techniques described in this book. In 2009, Nigel moved to Tasmania and established a similar orchid conservation and research program at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens focusing on Tasmanian endemic species. He runs an ex situ conservation program where volunteers are trained in orchid conservation and propagation methods. He authored the multi-species recovery plan for all Tasmania's threatened orchid species and continues his research into the mycorrhizal relationships of Australian terrestrial orchids on a part-time basis. Nigel is currently a Research Fellow at the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture at the University of Tasmania. In addition to his research, Nigel supervises graduate students in topics ranging from tree physiology to cider production and terrestrial orchid ecology. Nigel is also an active member of the Tasmanian Threatened Species Committee.

Kingsley Dixon is the Curtin University Professor at Kings Park and Botanic Garden in Perth, Western Australia. He is one of Australia's leading botanists who found his passion for orchids as a small child and would often collect them with his parents on bush walks. His professional and scientific interests in orchids developed while obtaining his Ph.D. at The University of Western Australia when he worked on the ecology of native southwest Australian orchids. Later, he expanded this into propagation, mycorrhizal, pollination, and conservation research when he established the world-acclaimed Kings Park Botanical Research Facility in the State Botanic Garden in Western Australia.Since then, Kings Park has produced more than 60 Ph.D.'s in botany and the biological sciences, and is home to an internationally recognized orchid research group that has made many major advances including the development of novel tissue culture procedures for rare orchids and the first cryo-banking methodology for rare orchid seed.Kingsley was hired by Curtin University in 2015 and continues to lead major conservation and restoration programs that include orchid biology, ecology, and conservation research.Kingsley has developed extensive research collaborations in conservation and restoration science in China, Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Americas. This has included programs to save rare and threatened slipper orchids in Indonesia and developing conservation propagation of European rare terrestrial orchids. Through these partnerships, he has developed a global network of orchid researchers and collaborators that includes significant input from citizen science programs from local to international orchid groups, including the Hardy Orchid Society of the United Kingdom.

Reviews

This is a fascinating book filled with cogent information aimed at making orchid conservation technology accessible to all interested people (not just scientists)."" - Leon Glicenstein, Book Review in Orchids, the Bulletin of the American Orchid society

""The outstanding features of the book include high quality photographs and illustrations. There are concise outlines of methods and techniques involving a wide range of species. There is also an easy readability and understandable approach that conveys the enthusiasm and experience of the authors."" - Peter B. Adams, Book Review in the Orchadian, the Journal of the Australasian Native Orchid Society

""Conservation Methods for Terrestrial Orchids is an ambitious book that sets out to demystify the many facets of orchid science in an accessible manner. It succeeds superbly."" - Tom McCarter, Book Review in the Botanic Gardener, the magazine for botanic garden professionals.

""The ability to put this book together so that the information is informative as well as readable is astounding."" - Coralie Hills, Editor of Orchids Australia, the official publication of the Australian Orchid Council, Inc.