I was able to reach Mark Chase, and he's given me permission to post
his reply:

"In Australia, it appears that their native orchids form exclusive
relationships with fungi, and I believe that some new species have
been recognised due to the line of argument that you mentioned (these
two similar species of orchids must be different because one forms
relationships solely with fungus X, while the other depends solely on
Y). You could contact Peter Weston who is an expert on Australian
orchids if you wanted more information on this subject. In European
terrestrial orchids, we think that each species can have multiple
fungal associations over its range, so there is no one-to-one pattern
as in Australia. This could be due to
our taxonomic concepts not recognising biological entities, but at
this point we think that it is that these orchids are pluralists
(opportunists)."

I've also been sent (by various correspondents) what is turning out to
be a long list of references. If anyone is interested, I can collect
and post them.

The natural world is wondrous strange.

Monique Reed
Texas A&M

Deafening silence ...

Followed by your dumb remark, Rinkytink.


P van Rijckevorsel wrote in message
...
Deafening silence ...

In article ,
Monique Reed wrote:
I was able to reach Mark Chase, and he's given me permission to post
his reply:

"In Australia, it appears that their native orchids form exclusive
relationships with fungi, and I believe that some new species have
been recognised due to the line of argument that you mentioned (these
two similar species of orchids must be different because one forms
relationships solely with fungus X, while the other depends solely on Y).

The cynic in me wonders whether this is a real difference, or just
something dreamed up by taxonomists desperate to continue naming
species (it's their reason for being after all ;-).

Consider that a single gene often confers resistance/susceptibility to
a disease organism. Why can't a similar simple genetic system alter a
"relationship"?

Of course, if the "two similar species of orchids" are considered
separate species on other grounds, then the specificity of these
fungal relationships may be considered corroborative evidence.

You could contact Peter Weston who is an expert on Australian
orchids if you wanted more information on this subject. In European
terrestrial orchids, we think that each species can have multiple
fungal associations over its range, so there is no one-to-one pattern
as in Australia. This could be due to
our taxonomic concepts not recognising biological entities, but at
this point we think that it is that these orchids are pluralists
(opportunists)."

I've also been sent (by various correspondents) what is turning out to
be a long list of references. If anyone is interested, I can collect
and post them.

The natural world is wondrous strange.

Monique Reed
Texas A&M

Cheers, Phred.

--
LID