Patterns of Orchid Diversity and Their Potential Habitat Under Climate Change in Chongqing, China

Global climate problems and the sharp decline in biodiversity have attracted widespread attention. Orchids, as the "flagship" species of biodiversity, are important indicators of ecological changes. This study took Chongqing as the study area and conducted a comprehensive survey of orchids through field investigation combined with data review to clarify Chongqing's diversity distribution pattern. The distribution of orchids was characterized by "high in the east and low in the west, high in the north and low in the south" horizontally. Vertically, the distribution was characterized by an obvious "unimodal distribution", with higher abundance in the low and middle altitude areas of 500-1499 m. The minimum temperature of the coldest month (Bio6), isothermality (Bio3), altitude (Bio20), and precipitation of the wettest season (Bio16) were the main environmental factors affecting the distribution of the orchid habitat. The suitable habitat of orchids would be greatly reduced in the future (2070SSP-585), and the suitable habitat tends to migrate to the high-altitude areas; therefore, we should pay more attention to the conservation and sustainable use of orchid plant resources.