Data from: Molecular evidence reveals unsustainable harvest of wild orchids

Human use of wild species has long reshaped biodiversity, but the
historical dynamics of exploitation are often poorly documented. In the
eastern Mediterranean, orchids are harvested for the production of salep,
a traditional beverage made of dried orchid tubers. Pharmaceutical and
natural history museums harbour collections of these tubers dating back
centuries, but their provenance and species identity remain largely
unknown. Here, salep tubers spanning nearly 200 years were analyzed using
target capture of orchid-specific loci to identify the likely source among
80 regional candidate species. Our approach confidently identifies up to
85 % of highly degraded tubers, enabling temporal and spatial
reconstructions of harvesting patterns. We reveal a rapid expansion in the
diversity of collected species in recent decades that is linked to
variation in flowering time. Longer harvesting seasons and universally
declining tuber sizes are consistent with a scenario of intensifying
exploitation. Species distribution models indicate that salep diversity
sold on markets today exceeds local orchid availability, implying
long-distance trade, while comparative phylogenomics identifies lineages
that are increasingly targeted today and at elevated risk of future
depletion. Combined, our results show that traditional salep orchid
populations are declining, driving shifts toward new species and
harvesting territories. This escalating trade poses a significant and
growing threat to orchid diversity.