Long-term influence of mowing on population dynamics in the rare orchid Dactylorhiza lapponica: The importance of recruitment and seed production

Many orchids are currently red-listed due to changes in land use, and their future persistence will depend on management. Traditional land use like mowing is believed to favour orchids through increased survival and reproduction of established individuals, but the lack of data connecting their complex life cycle presently limits our ability to evaluate effects of management. Here we used data from 16 years of demographic monitoring to study how mowing affects population dynamics in two populations of the rare orchid Dactylorhiza lapponica. Both populations were characterized by long-lived individuals, low adult mortality and high seedling mortality. The traditional regime of mowing every second year strongly increased recruitment and reduced seed production in both populations, but had moderate effect on adult survival, growth rate and flowering probability. Population growth rate was positive for all population × treatment combinations. Traditional mowing significantly increased growth rate in both populations, and LTRE-analyses revealed that this primarily was a result of increased recruitment. The results indicate that demographic rates commonly associated with orchid persistence may be insensitive to traditional management, and underscores the importance of seed production and recruitment to maintain population growth in this long-lived species. The combination of low establishment success and no seed bank makes D. lapponica dependent on high seed input. Our results suggest that D. lapponica would benefit most from traditional mowing performed after seed dispersal in the study areas, but also suggest a high probability of future survival in the absence of mowing.