Flowering frequency in a small population of Gymnadenia conopsea - a five year study

This investigation evaluates the usage of genetic markers, microsatellites, to distinguish and re-identify individual plants in a population of the orchid Gymnadenia conopsea. The study also illustrates the problem in estimating the size of a population from single year sampling as individuals can rest underground or occur in vegetative states; information extremely important for the understanding of population dynamics as well as providing information for conservation management. The total population size was, based on information from microsatellite loci, estimated to 84 individuals and vastly larger than the annual number of flowering plants (mean 31.4 individual s/year). Flowering frequency varied from 24-49%, 53 individuals flowered once, five individuals were flowering four years and a single individual was flowering five years. A common pattern was one or two flowering periods followed by a non-flowering period. The observed number of alleles and the observed and expected heterozygosity varied among loci, although allele frequencies and genotype frequencies did not vary significantly among years.