A review of the trade in orchids and its implications for conservation

Hinsley, Amy; Boer, Hugo de; Fay, Michael F.; Gale, Stephan W.; Gardiner, Lauren M.; Gunasekara, Rajasinghe S.; Kumar, Pankaj; Masters, Susanne; Metusala, Destario; Roberts, David L.; Veldman, Sarina; Wong, Shan; Phelps, Jacob

doi:10.1093/botlinnean/box083

Cited by 216 publications

(154 citation statements)

References 79 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

150

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Fauna and Flora (CITES), the primary governing body which sets international wildlife trade regulations (Hinsley et al, 2017;Phelps & Webb, 2015).…”

Section: Convention On International Trade In Endangered Species Of Wildmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Plants are illegally traded for a variety of reasons, including the production of essential oils, medicines, and perfumes (Jenkins, Timoshyna, & Cornthwaite, 2018), timber (UNODC, 2016), and for ornamental collection (Goettsch et al, 2015;Hinsley et al, 2017).…”

Section: Convention On International Trade In Endangered Species Of Wildmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Developments in DNA barcoding and other molecular techniques, already used in some cases to identify traded plants (e.g., Cowan, Chase, Kress, & Savolainen, 2006;Gathier, 2013;Staats et al, 2016) may help facilitate more accurate and timely identification of illegal plant trade. However, they are likely to present long-term challenges, especially for mega-diverse plant groups (e.g., orchids) and where capacity for such testing is low (Hinsley et al, 2017).…”

Section: Pl Ant B Lindne Ss and Illeg Al Wildlife Tr Adementioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Illegal wildlife trade and the persistence of “plant blindness”

Margulies

Bullough

Hinsley

et al. 2019

Plants People Planet

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Societal Impact Statement A wide variety of plant species are threatened by illegal wildlife trade (IWT), and yet plants receive scant attention in IWT policy and research, a matter of pressing global concern. This review examines how “plant blindness” manifests within policy and research on IWT, with serious and detrimental effects for biodiversity conservation. We suggest several key points: (a) perhaps with the exception of the illegal timber market, plants are overlooked in IWT policy and research; (b) there is insufficient attention from funding agencies to the presence and persistence of illegal trade in plants; and (c) these absences are at least in part resultant from plant blindness as codified in governmental laws defining the meaning of “wildlife.” Summary This review investigates the ways in which “plant blindness,” first described by Wandersee and Schussler (1999, p. 82) as “the misguided anthropocentric ranking of plants as inferior to animals,” intersects with the contemporary boom in research and policy on illegal wildlife trade (IWT). We argue that plants have been largely ignored within this emerging conservation arena, with serious and detrimental effects for biodiversity conservation. With the exception of the illegal trade in timber, we show that plants are absent from much emerging scholarship, and receive scant attention by US and UK funding agencies often driving global efforts to address illegal wildlife trade, despite the high levels of threat many plants face. Our article concludes by discussing current challenges posed by plant blindness in IWT policy and research, but also suggests reasons for cautious optimism in addressing this critical issue for plant conservation.

show abstract

“…Fauna and Flora (CITES), the primary governing body which sets international wildlife trade regulations (Hinsley et al, 2017;Phelps & Webb, 2015).…”

Section: Convention On International Trade In Endangered Species Of Wildmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Convention On International Trade In Endangered Species Of Wildmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Pl Ant B Lindne Ss and Illeg Al Wildlife Tr Adementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Illegal wildlife trade and the persistence of “plant blindness”

Margulies

Bullough

Hinsley

et al. 2019

Plants People Planet

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Identifying which sets of strategies may be appropriate requires a holistic understanding of trade, including of trade patterns and their ecological implications. This kind of approach is lacking for plant species and is a conservation priority for highly traded species such as orchids (Hinsley et al., ). We focus on orchid trade in Mexico to provide an example of a holistic approach to understanding wildlife trade and how it can provide insight for conservation policies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synthesis of wild orchid trade and demography provides new insight on conservation strategies

Ticktin

Mondragón

López-Toledo

et al. 2020

CONSERVATION LETTERS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Illegal wildlife trade represents a global conservation priority, but the booming illegal trade in wild plants remains understudied. We use the Mexican orchid trade to illustrate an interdisciplinary approach to provide novel insight on conservation strategies and policies. We synthesize studies of orchid markets, national orchid confiscation records, CITES registers, and global population dynamics studies to document trade patterns and potential ecological impacts. We found 333 wild-harvested orchid taxa illegally traded in domestic markets. Clear patterns emerged: 90% were epiphytic and <4% traded in high volumes, all of which had pseudobulbs and bloomed during cultural festivals. Most sales were pseudobulbs, not whole plants. Review of demographic studies indicates whole-plant harvest is unviable but simulations show potential for sustainable harvest of pseudobulbs. The combination of social and ecological findings suggests a novel multipronged approach to improve conservation, including selective monitoring, enforcement focused on whole-plant harvest, and communitybased wild harvest of pseudobulbs. K E Y W O R D Sconservation policy, illegal wildlife trade, matrix models, Mexico, orchids, social-ecological systems Conservation Letters. 2020;13:e12697.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/conl

show abstract

“…It is almost impossible to prevent this by guarding their habitats or trying to keep them secret. The best approach to reduce orchid theft is for rare orchids to become commercially available to take pressure of existing plants in nature (Nash et al 2003, Hinsley et al 2018. Ex situ conservation in living collections has been very effective in eastern Australia (called tuber banks) and is a consequence of the availability of plants to experienced orchid growers.…”

Section: Tuber Banks Commercial Availability and Seed Banksmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Proposed Framework for Efficient and Cost-Effective Terrestrial Orchid Conservation

Brundrett¹

2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper presents a comprehensive and adaptive framework for orchid conservation programs illustrated with data from published and unpublished case studies. There is a specific focus on West Australian terrestrial orchids, but many of the approaches have universal relevance. Aspects of the framework include (1) setting appropriate objectives, (2) establishing effective collaborations between scientists, volunteers and regulators to fill knowledge and funding gaps, (3) use of survey and demographics data to determine extinction risks and management requirements for species, (4) effective habitat management to overcome threats such as grazing, (5) finding potential new habitats by modelling climate and site data, (6) investigating the effectiveness of pollinators and (7) using seed baiting to detect mycorrhizal fungi. The relative cost and effectiveness of different methods used to propagate orchids for translocation are compared. Methods known to be successful, in order of complexity, include placement of seed in situ, vegetative propagation, symbiotic germination in non-sterile organic matter, symbiotic germination in sterile culture, asymbiotic sterile germination and clonal division in tissue culture. These form a continuum of complexity, cost, time required, faculties needed, as well as the capacity to maintain genetic diversity and produce seedlings preadapted to survive in situ. They all start with seed collection and lead to seed storage, living collections used as tuber banks and seed orchards, as well as translocation for conservation. They could also lead to commercial availability and sustainable ecotourism, both of which are needed to reduce pressure on wild plants. Overall, there has been a strong preference to use relatively complex, expensive and time-consuming methods for orchid conservation, despite evidence that simpler approaches have also been successful. These simpler methods, which include in situ seed placement and non-sterile germination on inorganic substrates, should be trialled in combination with more complex orchid propagation methods as part of an adaptive management framework. It is essential that orchid conservation projects harness the unique biological features of orchids, such as abundant seed production and mycorrhizal fungi which are far more widespread than their hosts. This is necessary to increase the efficiency and coverage of recovery actions for the largest and most threatened plant family.Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 26 April 2020

show abstract

A review of the trade in orchids and its implications for conservation

Cited by 216 publications

References 79 publications

Illegal wildlife trade and the persistence of “plant blindness”

Illegal wildlife trade and the persistence of “plant blindness”

Synthesis of wild orchid trade and demography provides new insight on conservation strategies

A Proposed Framework for Efficient and Cost-Effective Terrestrial Orchid Conservation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About