Impact of climate on the local abundance, regional distribution and community ecology of orchids.

As a result of increased concentrations of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere the average temperature on land is >1°C higher than in preindustrial times and rainfall and temperature regimes have become more extreme and variable. These climatological changes can be expected to have major implications for the distribution and abundance of plants and animals. This is especially true for orchids, which for their survival not only depend on critical interactions with pollinators, but also on interactions with mycorrhizal fungi. However, at present we know virtually nothing about how a more extreme and variable climate affects the interactions between orchids and mycorrhizal fungi and how this in turn affects the population dynamics and long-term viability and the distribution of orchids. The main aim of this project is to develop research that investigates how climate change and associated extreme weather conditions affect the distribution, population dynamics and community ecology of orchids by altering the abundance of key mycorrhizal taxa.