DOI: 10.5061/dryad.63xsj3v99
title: Data from: Orchid trade at the source: Epiphytic species with conspicuous flowers in low-elevation forests are more locally collected in a Philippine key biodiversity area

description: Orchids are the most heavily traded plant group globally, putting pressure
 on wild populations in many source countries like the Philippines. Despite
 its rich orchid diversity, there remains a notable gap in understanding
 the factors driving orchid trade within the country. To address this
 knowledge gap and support orchid conservation efforts, we utilized a
 five-year orchid diversity dataset extensively collected through floristic
 field and village garden surveys in one of the largest key biodiversity
 areas in the southern Philippines. We employed a trait-based approach to
 investigate ecological drivers of local orchid collection within this
 source area. Our results show that around 36% of local orchid diversity
 have predicted collection risks of ≥50%. Notably, locally collected orchid
 species exhibited multiple, large, and conspicuously colored flowers that
 are found in low-elevation forests and higher up in forest stratum.
 Elevational distribution and flower size emerged as the strongest
 predictors, potentially influencing collection preferences. Our analysis
 of predicted collection risks underscores the vulnerability of both
 threatened and non-threatened orchid species to local collection
 pressures. Moreover, we highlight the practical utility of our trait-based
 approach in predicting risks and informing management strategies for local
 orchid conservation. This research marks a significant step towards
 identifying ecological drivers influencing orchid trade at its source,
 providing insights that can inform targeted conservation strategies across
 many key biodiversity areas for this highly diverse, charismatic, and
 threatened plant family.
description: <strong>Study area and sampling
 method</strong> The Mt Busa Key Biodiversity Area
 (KBA 196) stands as one of the largest and partially protected KBAs in
 southern Mindanao, Philippines, spanning approximately 1,162
 km<sup>2</sup>. It encompasses the major mountains of Busa,
 Three Kings, Melibengoy, Malibato, and Tasaday, with Busa peak as its
 highest point, reaching 2064 masl (Figure 1). The KBA 196 has mixed
 advanced secondary and primary lowland evergreen, lower montane, and upper
 montane forests (Saavedra & Pitogo, 2021), which are source areas
 for locally collected orchids in the region. From July
 2019–July 2023, we conducted ~2,495 person-hours of floristic field
 surveys within KBA 196 forests, spanning elevations from 200 to 2064 masl
 and encompassing both wet and dry seasons (Table S1). These surveys aimed
 to inventory orchid species while accounting for temporal and spatial
 variations in species distribution. Over this five-year period, we
 employed a combination of 2-km transect surveys upslope along the primary
 trails of major mountains and opportunistic surveys in randomly chosen
 sampling points outside of transects (e.g., forest interior, forest
 patches, riparian areas, ravines; Saavedra & Pitogo, 2021) to
 ensure a good representative of local orchid diversity in KBA
 196. Five 2-km transects were extensively surveyed,
 strategically established on both the southern (Mt Busa) and northern (Mt
 Tebotu and Three Kings Mountain) slopes of the primary mountain range,
 with additional transects on different ridges of nearby, unconnected Mt
 Melibengoy to cover the diversity of forest types and habitats present
 (Figure 1; Table S1). A total of 33 transect surveys were conducted
 throughout the data gathering period, with varying frequencies of survey
 per site (Table S1). During each transect survey, 4–5 observers recorded
 all orchid species up to about 5 m from trail, stopping every 250 m for
 more thorough observations for about 30 minutes. Our surveys also included
 extensive opportunistic examinations from the ground up to about 4 m above
 the forest floor for terrestrial and epiphytic orchids, with the caveat
 that species distributed above the understorey layer may have been missed.
 Although previous studies demonstrate that this ground-based survey
 approach may underestimate epiphytic species richness (Flores-Palacios
 & García-Franco, 2001; Burns & Dawson, 2005), logistical
 constraints prevented us from employing climbing-based survey techniques.
 However, we controlled potential observer bias by meticulously examining
 epiphytes on all encountered fallen trees and branches. Our methodology
 thus illustrates the thoroughness of our field efforts, although it does
 not necessarily guarantee completeness of orchid diversity within the KBA.
    Home garden surveys were conducted in 14 small
 villages, situated 300–500 meters from nearby forests within or directly
 adjacent to KBA 196, to supplement our records from the wild (see Figure 1
 and Table S1 for the number of villages per mountain surveyed). Given that
 numerous small villages within KBA 196 are accessible only by foot or
 specific modes of transportation, village selection prioritized logistical
 efficiency and security, while still ensuring that villages selected are
 not biased to certain locations. These villages typically consist of 20 to
 40 clustered houses, with &lt;10 outliers built over 1 km away from
 the main cluster, often near their farmland. Primarily inhabited by Tboli
 and Ubo indigenous communities, whose way of life is deeply intertwined
 with their natural surroundings, many maintain small home gardens of
 wild-sourced ornamental, medicinal, and food plants. Although our survey
 of home gardens per village focused on the main cluster of houses for
 logistical efficiency, any houses located outside of cluster were still
 surveyed if encountered. Each house within the cluster of all 14 villages
 was inspected once per village survey, with a total of 66 village surveys
 conducted between 2019 and 2023 (Table S1). Due to the opportunistic
 nature of our village surveys, we were unable to track the number of
 houses surveyed per visit for each village. Our survey entailed thorough
 inspections of home gardens, if ever present, at every house to search for
 flowering orchids. To ensure that the orchid species inventoried from home
 gardens originated from KBA 196, we verified this information with the
 houseowner and visually inspected each plant. Indications of recent
 removal from substrate, such as fresh algae, moss, and soil materials
 attached to roots, were taken as evidence. All
 flowering plants were photographed using a digital camera equipped with a
 macro lens (Canon EOS 850D, 100 mm macro lens), while floral specimens of
 some species were collected to facilitate accurate identification.
 Flowering plants were identified at species level by using published
 literature and photographic guides (Cootes, 2001, 2011; Pelser et al.,
 2011 onwards), as well as the citizen science platform of Co’s Digital
 Flora of the Philippines (CDFP; Barcelona et al., 2013). All species
 underwent secondary identification by consulting with orchid taxonomists
 (see Acknowledgments). Taxonomic treatment generally follows Plants of the
 World Online (POWO, 2023), except that we
 recognized <em>Dendrochilum</em>,
 <em>Chelonistele</em>, and <em>Pholidota</em> at
 the generic rank, as it is by CDFP (Pelser et al., 2011
 onwards). <strong>2.2 Trait
 database</strong> We selected species from the
 five-year dataset of orchid diversity in KBA 196 for which the required
 trait data were available. The trait database consists of 178 species from
 65 genera, ecologically and morphologically representative of about 250
 species recorded in KBA 196 over the five-year data gathering period
 (Table S2). The dataset includes seven morpho-ecological traits related to
 species’ accessibility (elevation and vertical distributions) and
 visibility (plant size, number of flowers, flower size, flower color
 diversity and conspicuousness). <strong>2.2.1
 Elevational and vertical distributions</strong>
 We recorded the lowest and highest elevations at which each
 species was observed in KBA 196 using a Global Positioning System (Garmin
 64s, USA). Our record was augmented with data from CDFP (Pelser et al.,
 2011 onwards) and published literature (Cootes 2001, 2011; Betanio
 & Buenavista, 2018) to cover documented elevational range of each
 species. We defined vertical distribution as the range from forest floor
 (0 meters) to forest canopy, assessing the height at which orchids were
 observed through visual estimation relative to the height of second
 author. This estimation method was also applied to orchids observed on
 fallen trees. Vertical placements per individual of a species may vary,
 but this estimate provided quantitative description of ground and
 epiphytic species. For species observed in houses but not in the wild,
 elevation data were obtained from available published literature and
 databases, while vertical placement was estimated by the collector.
 Elevational and vertical distributions used for each species were
 calculated as the average of their lowest and highest values.
 <strong>2.2.2 Plant size, flower size and
 number</strong> Given that orchid flowers exhibit
 bilateral symmetry, we utilized reported length of the longest petal/sepal
 as a proxy for flower size. Data on petal/sepal length, flower number, and
 plant size (sum of maximum reported lengths of leaves and pseudobulb/stem)
 were obtained from original descriptions and available literature (e.g.,
 Cootes 2001, 2011). In some cases, we supplemented or augmented these data
 through direct measurements during our fieldwork: number of flowers in an
 inflorescence was directly counted, floral measurements for some orchid
 species were measured using digital caliper (Mitutoyo 500-196-30, Japan),
 and plant size was measured using a measuring tape. As flower number can
 vary among individuals of a species, we approximated values and utilized
 published data (Cootes 2001, 2011) to provide quantitative descriptions
 for single-flowered, few-flowered, and many-flowered species. In instances
 where data were lacking for a particular orchid species, we used values
 from closely related and comparable species.
 <strong>2.2.3 Flower color</strong>
 For objective assessment of flower color, we employed
 quantitative color pattern analyses on each of 178 orchid species to
 determine color pattern complexity (also referred to here as color
 diversity) and conspicuousness. Color data were extracted from a digital
 image of a single flower for each species taken <em>in situ
 </em>in KBA 196<em> </em>using a macro lens (Canon EOS
 850D, 100 mm macro lens), except for 18 species whose <em>in situ
 </em>photos were obtained from CDFP (Nickrent et al., 2006 onwards).
 We ensured that the image selected for each species showed most, if not
 all, colors of perianth and labellum. These images were imported into
 Adobe Photoshop to mask manually the background using transparency and
 saved as PNG<em> </em>files. Color
 segmentation was conducted for each processed species image using
 recolorize<em> </em>package in R statistical software (Weller
 et al., 2022). This package can handle a wide range of species images
 captured under different lighting conditions, and it does not require
 specification of the number of color classes, thereby accounting for
 diversity of colors present in the species. The recolorize2() function in
 the package was used for each species image to generate color histograms
 in CIE Lab color space, which is a perceptually uniform color space for
 human vision, with three bins per color channel
 (3<sup>3</sup>= 27 possible color bins per image). Color bins
 with Euclidean distance of less than 20 were then clustered to produce the
 final color map for color pattern analyses. Using the
 recolorize package, we ran adjacency and boundary strength analyses for
 resulting color maps of each species image to quantify color pattern
 complexity and conspicuousness. A single set of CIE Lab color space and
 HSL color distances that correspond to perceptual distances of human
 visual were used for all species images. Color pattern complexity was
 measured using Simpson color class diversity
 (<em>S<sub>c</sub></em>), while conspicuousness is
 estimated by the weighted mean of chromatic boundary strength (Cr
 <em>m</em><sub>Δ<em>S</em></sub>).
 Higher <em>S<sub>c</sub></em> values indicate more
 complex color patterns (Endler, 2012), and higher Cr
 <em>m</em><sub>Δ<em>S
 </em></sub>values suggest greater visibility and likelihood of
 detection (Endler et al., 2018).
description: # Data from: Orchid trade at the source: Epiphytic species with
 conspicuous flowers in low-elevation forests are more locally collected in
 a Philippine key biodiversity area
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.63xsj3v99](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.63xsj3v99) The dataset is used to investigate the ecological factors influencing local orchid collection in a Philippine key biodiversity area. It includes 178 orchid species analyzed in the research, accompanied by their morpho-ecological traits and details on their collection and exportation statuses. Additionally, it provides data on the predicted collection probability (collection risk) and risk category as either high or low. ## Description of the data and file structure The dataset, named "Dataset_Orchids," is formatted as a single comma-separated values (CSV) file. It consists of 14 columns and 179 rows, where the first row represents the column titles, followed by subsequent rows containing species information. Each column provides specific details as follows: **Species [text]**: Names of the orchid species included in the dataset, following the taxonomic treatment of the Plants of the World Online (2023), except that we recognized *Dendrochilum*, *Chelonistele*, and *Pholidota* at the generic rank, as it is by the Co's Digital Flora of the Philippines (Pelser et al., 2011 onwards). **Species_Code [text]**: These are the species codes in Figure 2 of the published paper. **Poached [text]**: This information shows whether a species is locally collected or not collected. Species that were locally collected were those observed both in the wild and village gardens or only in village gardens, while species that are not collected were those observed in the wild but not in village gardens.  **Poached_Code [binary data]**: values are in binary format, utilized as the response variable in the main analysis. Here, "1" indicates species that were collected, while "0" represents those that were not collected. **Elevation [continuous numerical data]**: values are in meters above sea level (masl), indicating the average of the lowest and highest elevation at which the species was recorded in the wild, supplemented by secondary information from published literature or sources.  **Vertical Placement [continuous numeric data]**: values are in meters and the average, indicating the lowest and highest placement along the vertical forest stratum at which the species was recorded in the wild [see Methods for more details]. **Flower Size [continuous numeric data]:** values are in centimeter (cm), indicating the maximum length of the longest petal or sepal of the flower [used as a proxy for flower size]. Data source were either from original descriptions, published literature, and supplemented by our own measurements [see Methods for more details]. **Plant Size [continuous numeric data]:** values are in meters (m), indicating the sum of the maximum length of the species' leaves and pseudobulb or stem. Data source were either from original descriptions, published literature, and supplemented by our own measurements [see Methods for more details]. **Flower Number  [discrete numeric data]:** values are the number of flowers in an infloresence. Data source were either from original descriptions, published literature, and supplemented by our own counts [see Methods for more details]. **Simpson Color Diversity [continuous numeric data]:** values are extracted from color maps generated for each image of a species' flower [see Methods for more details]. This metric is used as a proxy for color pattern complexity of flowers **Mean Chromatic Boundary Strength [continuous numeric data]:** values are extracted from color maps generated for each image of a species' flower [see Methods for more details]. This metric is used as a proxy for color pattern conspicuousness of flowers.  **CITES [binary data]:** values are in binary format, used as the response variable in the study. Here, "1" indicates commercially exported species and "0" as species that are not commercially exported. Data source is from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna or CITES Trade Database (2023).  **Collection Probability [continuous numeric data]:** values are the predicted probability of collection (in percentage, %) for each species using the best-selected Generalized Linear Model [see Results and Methods for more details]. The values were used to examine the relationship between collection probability and CITES export status of species.  **Category [text]:** species are categorized as high (&gt;50% collection probability) or low (&lt;50% collection probability) to facilitate communication.  ## Code/Software Data analyses were conducted in the R Statistical Software Version 4.2.2. The codes used in the analyses and in creating the figures used in the published paper are included in the Codes_Orchids.R file.