Serendipita diversity in Australia: Biogeography and specifity of Serendipita across the Australian continent

The interaction between orchid and mycorrhizal fungi is undeniably crucial in orchid establishment and recruitment. This relationship was suggested to contribute in determining orchid distribution range and population size. However, the pattern of fungal colonization in orchids is still a puzzle since different orchids have different fungal partners. Mycorrhizal specificity is now used as a term to explain how unique the relationship is between orchid and mycorrhizal fungi. Serendipita fungi are used by many Australian orchid genera (Dearnaley and Le Brocque, 2006). However, not all of these genera occur in both western and eastern Australia. Hence, in this project, we are trying to see the pattern of Serendipita colonization in some orchid genera that occur in both eastern and western Australia; Caladenia, Cyrtostylis, Eriochilus, and Microtis.