Orchid trade at the source: Epiphytic species with conspicuous flowers in low-elevation forests are more locally collected in a Philippine key biodiversity area

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 strong..., Study area and sampling method
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 km2. 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 th..., , # 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 s...