What is it about?
We investigated the effect of severing the Laelia furfuracea flowering pseudobulb on production of new pseudobulbs, size and flowering probability; survival probability and growth of individuals fallen was evaluated too as potential trading resource
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Why is it important?
Inflorescence collection did not affect the production of new pseudobulbs the following season. However, it affected the size of these pseudobulbs, as well as their flowering probability. Yet, the direction of this effect was not consistent between years. Nearly six percent of all L. furfuracea plants at the study site were found on the ground. Over 80 percent of them survived for at least two years, although most of them showed pseudobulb loss over that period of time. We conclude that harvesting of flowering pseudobulbs may be sustainable in terms of its effects on plant performance, at least in the short term.
Perspectives
The active management of plants that have fallen on the ground may reduce the harvesting pressure on natural populations. Harvesting of flowering pseudobulbs may diminish some aspects of plant performance, but its effects need to be evaluated with complete life cycle data and take into account inter-annual variation in vital rates.
Rodolfo Solano
Instituto Politecnico Nacional
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This page is a summary of: Sustainable harvesting and conservation of
Laelia furfuracea
, a rare epiphytic orchid from Oaxaca, Mexico, Biotropica, October 2020, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/btp.12854.
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