BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — On a remote tallgrass prairie in North Dakota, a secretive orchid pokes up from the ground. You'll only find it if you know where to look.
Associated PressThe western prairie fringed orchid is seen blooming on July 3, 2024, on the Sheyenne National Grassland in North Dakota. The orchid has declined due to loss of its native prairie habitat, among other factors, and is classified as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act. BISMARCK, N.D. — On a remote tallgrass prairie in North Dakota, a secretive orchid pokes up from the ground. You'll only find it if you know where to look.
Years ago, Steve Travers, an associate professor at the university's Department of Biological Sciences, was fascinated to learn about the orchid — “these big, beautiful, two-foot tall, ginormous, gorgeous things that were pollinated at night.” The orchid’s only known pollinators are hawkmoths, big moths that are just the right fit and size to reach the orchid's nectar, in a long spur, while also pollinating the plant.
Graduate student Josie Pickar's work is focused on what affects the orchid's reproductive success, including soil nutrients and pollinator service. She's been traveling to about 20 sites, looking at subsets of orchids, to gather soil samples and moisture content, count flowers, and record plant heights and conditions, as well as monitoring the orchids via trail cameras for what might be eating them.
She swabs the orchids at all her sites, collects moths to see where they are going and uses a molecular technique called eDNA metabarcoding to see which pollinators visited the orchid, she said. Environmental DNA is genetic material left behind from, for instance, a butterfly visiting a flower. Some studies indicate daytime pollinators might be at work, she said.In the morning, Atkins would swab orchids for eDNA before it degrades.
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