Dear all, Recently I came across a post of Dendrobium barbatulum growing on Acacia. So I felt like writing about it.
There are many ways to look at it, but ultimately it is not a happy moment in anycase. Orchid seed germination is strictly dependent on fungal association, so growing on Acacia means it was able to find a fungi (mycorrhiza) that was able to grow on Acacia which is native to Australia. Question is, did the orchids adapt to a new environment or the fungi? Many times we walk in the forests and even if we are very much careful and we dont wish to disturb the natural environment, we do throw things like fruits and vegetables (left overs from our food) saying that it is biodegradable. But can you imagine, an apple doesnt grow in the western ghats, then how does the apple get decomposed there by a fungi or bacteria? Microorganisms are everywhere, they just need a host to propagate. An apple decomposing fungi or bacteria cant propagate if there is no apple and hence no apple tree in the area is a kind of a biocontrol for that fungi or bacteria etc. But its human who alters the environment every where. Even by throwing a bio degradable apple on the floor in a non apple area, we are kind of adding very minor doses of poison to the environment there and its not good for natural habitat. Ever thought, how a pig virus that was supposed to infect only pigs could infect human being causing swine flu? Its not the adaptation of human but the microorganisms. Just somethings to ponder about!! and we must not encourage exotics to take over natural vegetation in India. Few days back I was attending one seminar by a guy from China. He is one of the two persons who manages the online Forest Herbarium database. People from all over china just upload their pics selflessly (something similar to what we do on efloraofindia). They also keep tracks of the exotic or alien plants. Recently they came across an invasive climber of Mikania which was uploaded by one of the citizen scientists for id. It was the first report of this invasive species from a particular county or area. Hence it was reported to authorities and they went to the concerned area and destroyed all individuals of this invasive species. India must have a proper invasive species management system before Lantana reaches the top of himalayas. Best regards Pankaj -- *********************************************************** *Pankaj Kumar*, Ph.D. *IUCN-SSC Orchid Specialist Group Asia * *Office*: Conservation Officer Orchid Conservation Section Flora Conservation Department Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG) Corporation Lam Kam Road, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong. *Residence*: 151, 1st Floor, Tai Om Tsuen Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong. *email*: [email protected]; [email protected] *Phone*: +852 2483 7128 (office - 8:30am to 5:00pm); +852 9436 6251 (mobile). *Fax*: +852 2483 7194 -- --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "efloraofindia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
