Editing Ericaceae (section)

== Distribution and ecology ==
The Ericaceae have a nearly worldwide distribution. They are absent from continental [[Antarctica]], parts of the high [[Arctic]], central [[Greenland]], northern and central [[Australia]], and much of the lowland [[tropics]] and [[neotropics]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ericales |url=https://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb/orders/ericalesweb.htm#Ericaceae |access-date=2023-12-05 |website=mobot.org}}</ref>

The family is largely composed of plants that can tolerate acidic, infertile, shady conditions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ericacea (Heath) Family and Their Culture |url=https://extension.psu.edu/ericacea-heath-family-and-their-culture |access-date=2023-12-03 |website=extension.psu.edu}}</ref> Due to their tolerance of acidic conditions, this plant family is also typical of peat [[bog]]s and blanket bogs; examples include ''[[Rhododendron groenlandicum]]'' and species in the genus ''[[Kalmia]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Maine Natural Areas Program, Natural Community Fact Sheet for Subalpine Hanging Bog |url=https://www.maine.gov/dacf/mnap/features/communities/heathlichen.htm |access-date=2023-12-03 |website=maine.gov}}</ref> In eastern [[North America]], members of this family often grow in association with an [[oak]] canopy, in a habitat known as an [[oak-heath forest]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Oak / Heath Forest |url=https://wvdnr.gov/outdoor-recreation/plants-fungi/oak-heath-forest/ |access-date=2023-12-03 |website=West Virginia Division of Natural Resources}}</ref> Plants in Ericaceae, especially species in ''[[Vaccinium]]'', rely on [[buzz pollination]] for successful pollination to occur.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Moquet |first1=Laura |last2=Bruyère |first2=Lydiane |last3=Pirard |first3=Benoit |last4=Jacquemart |first4=Anne-Laure |date=October 2017 |title=Nectar foragers contribute to the pollination of buzz-pollinated plant species |journal=American Journal of Botany |volume=104 |issue=10 |pages=1451–1463 |doi=10.3732/ajb.1700090 |issn=1537-2197 |pmid=29885226|doi-access=free }}</ref>

The majority of ornamental species from ''Rhododendron'' are native to [[East Asia]], but most varieties cultivated today are hybrids.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Native Rhododendrons & Azaleas of North America |url=http://rhodyman.net/Natives.html |access-date=2023-12-04 |website=rhodyman.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Hybrid Rhododendron |url=http://www.rhodyman.net/rhodyhy.html |access-date=2023-12-04 |website=rhodyman.net}}</ref> Most rhododendrons grown in the United States are cultivated in the [[Pacific Northwest]]. The United States is the top producer of both blueberries and cranberries, with the state of Maine growing the majority of [[Vaccinium angustifolium|lowbush blueberry]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=1970-01-01 |title=World Blueberry Production by Country |url=https://www.atlasbig.com/en-us/countries-blueberry-production |access-date=2023-12-04 |website=AtlasBig}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1970-01-01 |title=World Cranberry Production by Country |url=https://www.atlasbig.com/en-us/countries-cranberry-production |access-date=2023-12-04 |website=AtlasBig}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Blueberries |url=https://www.maine.gov/doe/sites/maine.gov.doe/files/inline-files/Blueberries.pdf |website=Maine DOE}}</ref> The wide distribution of genera within Ericaceae has led to situations in which distinct American and European plants share the same common name, e.g. blueberry (''[[Vaccinium corymbosum]]'' in North America and [[Vaccinium myrtillus|''V.''&nbsp;''myrtillus'']] in Europe) and cranberry ([[Vaccinium macrocarpon|''V.''&nbsp;''macrocarpon'']] in America and [[Vaccinium oxycoccos|''V.''&nbsp;''oxycoccos'']] in Europe).

=== Mycorrhizal relationships ===
{{Main|Ericoid mycorrhiza}}

Like other stress-tolerant plants, many Ericaceae have [[mycorrhiza]]l fungi to assist with extracting nutrients from infertile [[soil]]s, as well as evergreen foliage to conserve absorbed nutrients.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Department od Mycorrhizal Symbioses |url=https://www.ibot.cas.cz/mykosym/en_eric.html |access-date=2023-12-04 |website=ibot.cas.cz}}</ref> This trait is not found in the [[Clethraceae]] and [[Cyrillaceae]], the two families most closely related to the Ericaceae. Most Ericaceae (excluding the Monotropoideae, and some Epacridoideae) form a distinctive accumulation of [[Ericoid mycorrhiza|mycorrhizae]], in which fungi grow in and around the roots and provide the plant with nutrients. The [[Pyroloideae]] are [[mixotrophic]] and gain sugars from the mycorrhizae, as well as nutrients.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lallemand |first1=Félix |last2=Puttsepp |first2=Ülle |last3=Lang |first3=Mait |last4=Luud |first4=Aarne |last5=Courty |first5=Pierre-Emmanuel |last6=Palancade |first6=Cécile |last7=Selosse |first7=Marc-André |date=September 2017 |title=Mixotrophy in Pyroleae (Ericaceae) from Estonian boreal forests does not vary with light or tissue age |journal=Annals of Botany |volume=120 |issue=3 |pages=361–371 |doi=10.1093/aob/mcx054 |issn=0305-7364 |pmc=5591414 |pmid=28575199}}</ref>

The cultivation of blueberries, cranberries, and [[Gaultheria procumbens|wintergreen]] for their fruit and oils relies especially on these unique relationships with fungi, as a healthy mycorrhizal network in the soil helps the plants to resist environmental stresses that might otherwise damage crop yield.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ericoid Mycorrhizal Fungi & Cranberry: Mutualisms with Potential – Wisconsin Fruit |url=https://fruit.wisc.edu/2021/06/29/ericoid-mycorrhizal-fungi-cranberry-mutualisms-with-potential/ |access-date=2023-12-04 |website=fruit.wisc.edu}}</ref> Ericoid mycorrhizae are responsible for a high rate of uptake of nitrogen, which causes naturally low levels of free nitrogen in ericoid soils.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Fagúndez |first=Jaime |date=February 2013 |title=Heathlands confronting global change: drivers of biodiversity loss from past to future scenarios |journal=Annals of Botany |volume=111 |issue=2 |pages=151–172 |doi=10.1093/aob/mcs257 |issn=0305-7364 |pmc=3555525 |pmid=23223202}}</ref> These mycorrhizal fungi may also increase the tolerance of Ericaceae to [[heavy metals]] in soil, and may cause plants to grow faster by producing [[phytohormone]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wei |first1=Xiangying |last2=Zhang |first2=Wenbing |last3=Zulfiqar |first3=Faisal |last4=Zhang |first4=Chunying |last5=Chen |first5=Jianjun |date=2022 |title=Ericoid mycorrhizal fungi as biostimulants for improving propagation and production of ericaceous plants |journal=Frontiers in Plant Science |volume=13 |doi=10.3389/fpls.2022.1027390 |issn=1664-462X |doi-access=free |pmid=36466284 |pmc=9709444 }}</ref>

=== Heathlands ===

{{Main|Heath}}

In many parts of the world, a "heath" or "heathland" is an environment characterised by an open dwarf-[[shrub]] community found on low-quality acidic soils, generally dominated by plants in Ericaceae. Heathlands are a broadly anthropogenic habitat, requiring regular grazing or burning to prevent succession.<ref name="Heathland {{!}} Wildlife Watch">{{Cite web |title=Heathland {{!}} Wildlife Watch |url=https://www.wildlifewatch.org.uk/animal-habitats/heathland |access-date=2023-12-04 |website=wildlifewatch.org.uk}}</ref> Heaths are particularly abundant{{Snd}}and constitute important cultural elements{{Snd}}in Norway, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Portugal, and other countries in Central and Western Europe.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Loidi |first1=Javier |title=Heathlands of Temperate and Boreal Europe |date=2020-01-01 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780124095489120780 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of the World's Biomes |pages=656–668 |editor-last=Goldstein |editor-first=Michael I. |access-date=2023-12-04 |place=Oxford |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-12-816097-8 |last2=de Blust |first2=Geert |last3=Campos |first3=Juan Antonio |last4=Haveman |first4=Rense |last5=Janssen |first5=John |editor2-last=DellaSala |editor2-first=Dominick A.}}</ref> The most common examples of plants in Ericaceae which dominate heathlands are ''[[Calluna vulgaris]]'', ''[[Erica cinerea|Erica cineria]]'', ''[[Erica tetralix]]'', and ''[[Vaccinium myrtillus]].''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Heathland Plants |url=https://www.surreywildlifetrust.org/sites/default/files/2020-07/TBH-Heathland-Plant-Spotter-2-Pager.pdf |publisher=Surrey Wildlife Trust}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Heathland and Moorland |url=https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/habitats/heathland-and-moorland/ |publisher=Woodland Trust}}</ref>

In heathland, plants in Ericaceae serve as host plants to the butterfly ''[[Plebejus argus]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Thomas |first=C. D. |date=1985-08-01 |title=Specializations and polyphagy of ''Plebejus argus'' (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in North Wales |journal=Ecological Entomology|volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=325–340 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2311.1985.tb00729.x |bibcode=1985EcoEn..10..325T |issn=1365-2311 |s2cid=86813755}}</ref> Other insects, such as ''[[Saturnia pavonia]]'', ''[[Myrmeleotettix maculatus]]'', ''[[Metrioptera brachyptera]]'', and ''[[Picromerus bidens]]'' are closely associated with heathland environments.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Heathland invertebrates and reptiles |url=http://www.natureconservationimaging.com/Pages/nature_conservation_imaging_heathland1_invertebrates_reptiles.php |access-date=2023-12-04 |website=natureconservationimaging.com}}</ref> Reptiles thrive in heaths due to an abundance of sunlight and prey, and birds hunt the insects and reptiles which are present.<ref name="Heathland {{!}} Wildlife Watch"/>

Some evidence suggests [[eutrophic]] rainwater can convert ericoid heaths with species such as ''Erica tetralix'' to [[grassland]]s. [[Nitrogen]] is particularly suspect in this regard, and may be causing measurable changes to the distribution and abundance of some ericaceous species.<ref name=":0" />