Orchids without borders: studying the hotspot of costa rica and Panama

Abstract

aBstract. The Mesoamerican region is one of the richest in orchid diversity in the world. About 2670 species, 10% of all orchids known have been recorded there. Within this region, most of the species are concentrated in the southernmost countries. Costa Rica with 1598 species (or 0.030 spp/km 2 ) and Panama with 1397 species (0.018 spp/km 2 ) stand at the top of endemic species list of all Mesoamerica, with 35.37% and 28.52%, respectively. These figures, however, are misleading, as political boundaries do not have any relationship to orchid diversity. If we ignore the political frontier, there is a common biogeographic area. However, if we put the border back, the numbers in terms of scientific production and research change dramatically. Costa Rica has increased the knowledge of its orchid flora through the establishment of a successful research system, whereas Panama has lacked a similar process. To address this problem, the Lankester Botanical Garden at the Universidad de Costa Rica and the Universidad Autónoma de Chiriquí, Panama, established a new research center focused on the study of orchids. The aim of the cooperation is to provide the methodology, information, and expertise for a long-term project on taxonomy and systematics of the orchids of Panama

Herbarium-based studies on taxonomy, biogeography and ecology ofPsilochilus(Orchidaceae)

“…Our results strongly correspond with earlier studies made upon Orchidaceae of Mesoamerica. According to Ossenbach, Dressler & Pupulin (2007) and Bogarín et al (2013) about 10% (ca. 2700 taxa) of all orchid species known all around the world are recorded from this area, of which almost 29% are endemic to Panama.…”

“…The studies on regional diversity published by Barthlott, Lauer & Placke (1996) indicated that the region from eastern Costa Rica, through Panama to western Colombia has the highest plant biodiversity on the globe. In Panama, the extraordinary biodiversity is a consequence of an unusual mosaic of habitat types and an intermingling of species from both Central and South America, including single species of Psilochilus , but also many other Orchidaceae taxa (D’Arcy, 1987; Condit et al, 1996; Ossenbach, Dressler & Pupulin, 2007; Bogarín et al, 2013). …”

Peer Review #1 of "Herbarium-based studies on taxonomy, biogeography and ecology of Psilochilus (Orchidaceae) (v0.1)"

“…Our results strongly corresponds with earlier studies made upon Orchidaceae of Mesoamerica. According to Ossenbach et al (2007) and Bogarín et al (2013) about 10% (ca. 2700 taxa) of all orchid species known all around the world are recorded from this area, of which almost 29% are endemic to Panama.…”

Evolutionary diversification and historical biogeography of the Orchidaceae in Central America with emphasis on Costa Rica and Panama

“…with representatives in South America are distributed in Panama. The bias resulting from less floristic and alpha-taxonomic work in Panama should be reduced in the upcoming years(Bogarín et al 2013). Our focus is on studying the factors that led to the formation of the current species composition of Orchidaceae in the Isthmus.…”