ORCHID Diversity, distribution, & conservation ecology
Orchids stand as one of the most extensively poached floral species in the Philippines, facing threats even within local territories. A considerable number of these orchid species are both endemic and endangered. The pertinence of this issue has escalated in the present times due to the prevailing "plant craze" fueled by the pandemic. A surge in people collecting orchids directly from their natural habitats has been observed to meet the surging public demand. The consequence of this unregulated and continuous practice poses a significant risk of depleting wild orchid populations. Without proper regulation and oversight, the ongoing trend may lead to irreversible losses in orchid biodiversity. To address this concern and understand the extent of the impact, it is imperative to establish baselines through initiatives like the current project.
We mainly aim to generate an exhaustive photography-based list of orchid flora in the KBA 196. Photography is a powerful tool to communicate biodiversity conservation, especially with policymakers and local stakeholders. Through photos, we hope to highlight the urgent need to conserve and preserve the orchid flora, as these could spark political will, commitment, and community actions that bring about positive conservation outcomes. The information generated not only helps in the future monitoring of wild orchid diversity and populations in this area but also informs policies and management interventions for the continued protection and conservation of the KBA 196. In addition to diversity aspects, we also seek answers to the following questions:
What are the patterns of orchid diversity and distribution along an elevational gradient?
What are the factors that may predict orchid abundance and diversity in the mountains?
What are the ecological drivers that predispose species to local collection and eventual trade?
How can we use trait-based approaches to improve orchid conservation?
Where have we conducted fieldwork so far (2019-present)? ->
Marked sites are areas where we have surveyed multiple times (>10) across different times of the year (wet & dry seasons). Yellow circles are villages and adjacent forests surveyed while red pentagons are mountains elevationally surveyed (lowland evergreen, lower montane, upper montane forests).
project updates and milestones
250 species and counting...
Our sustained fieldwork across multiple sites and seasons within the Mt Busa KBA and adjacent forests have already documented more than 250 species of orchids, many of which have not been previously recorded in the Mindanao island and even the Philippines (Oberonia serrulata, Bulbophyllum plachochilum, etc.). We also recently described Pinalia campanulata from this KBA, the first to be described in southern Mindanao in decades!
We published a preliminary report of orchids in one of our field sites and showed that orchid diversity and distribution vary across forest types (access the study here), but more data are still needed to support this pattern. By employing elevational sampling and model-based approaches, we will assess elevational patterns of orchid diversity and determine which species and genera characterize forest types (lowland evergreen, lower montane forest, upper montane forest).
Our long-term goal is to produce a Naturalist's Guide to the Orchid Flora of the Mt. Busa Key Biodiversity Area!
Maganda. Mapang-akit. Marilag. Sa kagubatan ng Mt. Busa matatagpuan ang mga misteryosong bulaklak. Iba-iba ang kulay at hugis ng mga ito. May kulay rosas, lila, kahel, bughaw, berde, o dilaw. Hugis pabilog o kandila ang ilan sa kanila, at mayroon ding mga kahulma ng paru-paro o kastilyo. Ang bulaklak na ito ay walang iba kundi ang Orchids o Orkidya.
Idinikomento sa pananaliksik nina Aljohn Jay L. Saavedra at Kier Mitchel E. Pitogo, parehong dalubhasa sa larangan ng Biyolohiya, ang kasaganaan at distribusyon ng iba't ibang uri ng mga Orchids sa Mt. Busa, Sarangani, Southern Mindanao.
Bagaman isa sa mga pinakamapanglaw na uri ng mga halaman sa daigdig, ang mga Orchids ay dapat na pangalagaan sapagkat sila ay nanganganib na maubos dulot ng “habitat destruction” at “unsustainable harvesting” para gawing ornamentals.
Ang pag-aaral na ito nina Saavedra at Pitogo ay nagpapatibay sa importansya ng pag-aalaga sa saribuhay ng bundok upang maprotektahan, hindi lamang ang mga Orchid na ito, kundi pati na rin ang iba pang mga species na naninirahan doon.
(c) text and photo from DOSTv
ecological drivers of orchid trade at source areas
Orchids are a highly threatened and traded plant group globally, but research about orchid trade focuses more on the international level, with very limited information at the local level. This knowledge shortfall hampers supply-side measures to address the problem of indiscriminate and unsustainable orchid collection at source areas. With our five-year data of wild-sourced orchids at the KBA 196, we identified quantifiable morpho-ecological traits that predispose species to local collection and may eventually fuel unsustainable harvesting. This trait-based approach is an important first step toward advancing orchid trade research in the Philippines (even globally). The study is published in Biotropica.
one photo at a time: OUR contributions to the
co's digital flora of the philippines
The CDFP is a checklist of vascular plants native to the Philippine archipelago supplemented with thousands of photographs. Read more at philippineplants.org. The following photos have been contributed to the CDFP in support of its objective to make information about Philippine flora available to many users.
Equipment support
Idea Wild supported this project by providing us with a digital camera and macro lens for our photography-based conservation of orchids in the Mt. Busa KBA. Gratitude is also given to Ronny Boos and Jim Cootes for their expert advice—especially in identifying and validating all the orchid species we recorded. The Co's Digital Flora of the Philippines serves as the repository for the orchid photos we captured from Mt. Busa KBA.