Roadsides provide refuge for orchids: characteristic of the surrounding landscape.

ABSTRACT: Seminatural habitats are declining throughout the world; thus, the role of small anthropogenic habitats in the preservation of plants is becoming increasingly appreciated. Here, we surveyed the orchid flora of roadside verges in five Central European countries (Austria, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia) and tested how the surrounding landscape matrix affects the overall number of species and individuals, and also different functional groups of orchids. We found more than 2,000 individuals of 27 orchid species during our surveys. According to our results, the increasing coverage of agricultural and urban areas negatively affects both the number of orchid species and individuals on roadsides. Our study further suggests that differences in the surrounding habitats affect which species

SUBMITTER: Fekete R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7713965 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature