Pollination of Chloraea virescens by the invasive European bumblebee Bombus terrestris (Parque Nacional Lago Puelo).

Chloraeinae species constitute a sub tribe of terrestrial orchids with often showy and colourful flowers restricted to South American Andes Mountains and southern temperate grasslands (Pampas). Most of the reproductive biology of this sub tribe is unknown, and within Pampean species many of them haven’t been collected in decades and there aren’t any actually known populations. Preliminary results with Chloraea and Bipinnula species revealed that their fructification is pollinator dependent and many of them rely in a few or unique insect species for this service. Consequently they are tightly attached to the presence of another species for the completion of their life cycle and persistence in nature. The project will bridge this critical lack of basic information producing sound data necessary for assessing its conservation status and for the suggestion of in situ conservation measures when necessary, providing an up to date panorama on the distribution, abundance and reproductive biology of Chloraeinae orchids dwelling in Pampean grasslands and Argentinean Patagonia mountains.

Despite the natural attractiveness of orchid flowers, native and terrestrial orchids such as those from Chloraeinae sub tribe remain largely unknown except for specialized botanists. This project involves the production of diverse high-quality audio-visual material necessary to include as complementary material in reports, journal publications and other scientific papers. These materials will be used as well to elaborate educational publications such as short articles, brochures and short films with attractive visual content to show and reveal to general audience the biology and beauty of these plants.

Fruits and seeds gathered in the field will be used for laboratory micropropagation as an ex situ conservation strategy, looking forward in the long term for an insertion of these plants into the floricultural market.

At the end of this project we intend to have expanded the knowledge on Pampean and Patagonian Chloraeinae species distribution, abundance and its reproductive biology and have improved levels of public awareness related to the biodiversity of these orchids and the preservation of the habitats where they occur. We aim to provide substantial scientific information for their conservation assessment and to raise concern on relevant actors and public in general increasing the interest and attention into these unknown species fostering conservation awareness.