Description: Tasmania has a rich and diverse orchid flora with over 200 orchid species with almost half being endemic to this small island state. Tasmania has 68 orchid species listed as either critical or vulnerable under the Threatened Species Protection Act 1999.  Many of these threatened species are narrow range endemics only known from a small number of populations. In comparison to other Australian states with large numbers of threatened terrestrial orchids, conservation targeted research programs have been few in Tasmania with funding for active research limited.

This project will aim to establish an ex situ orchid seed and mycorrhizal fungi collection for the long term conservation and propagation of Tasmania’s threatened orchid flora. This project will also be the first to investigate the specificity and molecular diversity of the mycorrhizal partners of Tasmanian orchids. The project will involve collaboration between Tasmania’s Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment the Tasmanian Seed Conservation Centre, Royal Tasmanian Botanic Gardens (RTBG), the Millennium Seed Bank Project, and Kings Park and Botanic Gardens. This collaboration will be a step towards a national seed bank network, promoting skills and information sharing to advance a national approach to orchid seed conservation. In addition the project will expand our understanding of orchid-fungal specificity and diversity, a vital attribute in conserving populations of rare and threatened orchid species.