What is it about?
Here we documented species richness, abundance, and prices for orchids traded during December in traditional markets in Chiapas, Mexico, where the relationships among price, species showiness, and some variables determining income were evaluated.
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Why is it important?
Twenty-eight 28 traded orchid species were recorded, all of which extracted from neighboring and protected, forests, but the most income was generated from the three most traded species. A t a state level, this trade affects populations of several orchid species that are not considered at risk in other Mexican states. A significant relationship was found between the price of an orchid and the income obtained by a vendor was significantly explained by orchid inflorescence abundance, vendor’s age, and a biodiversity index estimated here.
Perspectives
Most of the income generated by this orchid trade is based on only three species, which were the orchids with the greatest sales volume. Two of the species are seriously threatened in Mexico, while the extraction of orchids for this trade also affects other species that are not considered at risk in Mexico. Because the orchid trade in the study area turns out to be illegal according to Mexican laws, it represents an unfair competition for the legal trade where time and resources have been invested in the propagation and cultivation of specimens.
Rodolfo Solano
Instituto Politecnico Nacional
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Species Richness May Determine the Income from Illicit Wild Orchid Trading in Traditional Markets in Mexico, Economic Botany, June 2019, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1007/s12231-019-09460-5.
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