Turkish graveyards as refuges for orchids against tuber harvest

Abstract

Harvest of orchid tubers for salep production is widespread in southwestern Asia and the Balkans and constitutes a major conservation risk for wild orchid populations. Synanthropic habitats, such as graveyards, are important refuges for orchids and other organisms and could offer protection from salep harvesting because of their special cultural role. However, little is known about the occurrence and factors influencing harvesting of salep in graveyards. During field surveys of 474 graveyards throughout Turkey, we observed 333 graveyards with orchids, 311 graveyards with tuberous orchids, and salep harvest in 14 graveyards. Altogether, 530 individuals of 17 orchid species were collected, representing 9% of the individuals recorded. Harvesting intensity was relatively low, and populations were usually not wholly destroyed. However, some species were clearly more affected than others. Salep harvesting risk of orchid species was significantly associated with flowering time, with early‐flowering species being more affected. A marginally significant positive relationship between harvesting risk and species‐specific tuber size was also detected. Our data suggest that graveyards might offer some protection against salep harvesting in Turkey, but they also show that some orchid taxa are much more affected than others. Overall, our observations add more weight to the conservation value of these special habitats.

Roadside verges and cemeteries: Comparative analysis of anthropogenic orchid habitats in the Eastern Mediterranean

“…Moreover, a further study confirms the importance of Muslim cemeteries in the preservation of Mediterranean orchids (Löki et al, ). Therefore, religious differences between the islands surveyed here (mainly Christian) and countries surveyed by earlier studies might explain the lower orchid number and diversity reported here in comparison of previous reports (Molnár, Nagy, et al, ). It is apparent that religious differences determine several biotic and abiotic conditions of cemeteries, since according to Molnár, Takács, et al () Muslim cemeteries were significantly larger, than Christian ones, contained larger grassland areas and had a smaller proportion of area covered by graves.…”

Urban Foraging in Berlin: People, Plants and Practices within the Metropolitan Green Infrastructure

“…Threats to urban biodiversity from wild harvesting have been documented, specifically when the products are destined for the cash-based informal economy [20,70]. Conversely, gathering traditional medicine plants in urban greenspaces lessened pressures on nearby conservation lands [16].…”

River embankments mitigate the loss of grassland biodiversity in agricultural landscapes

“…A number of studies suggest that secondary habitats can act as refuges for native, endangered or vulnerable species, thus they may play key roles in the maintenance of biodiversity in transformed landscapes (e.g., in agricultural landscapes and settlements; Hobbs, Higgs, & Harris, 2009). For instance, city walls may provide valuable habitats for ferns (Láníková & Lososová, 2009), highway stormwater ponds for aquatic macroinvertebrates (Le Viol, Mocq, Julliard, & Kerbiriou, 2009), graveyards for orchids (Löki, Deák, Lukács, & Molnár, 2019;Molnár et al, 2017), kurgans (i.e., burial mounds) for steppe species (Deák et al, 2016), roadside verges for endangered lizard-orchids (Fekete et al, 2017) and plantation forests for vulnerable plant species (Bátori et al, 2020;Süveges et al, 2019). Further studies show that linear anthropogenic structures (e.g., ditches, hedgerows, river embankments and road verges) have the potential to form dispersal corridors not only for the native biota but also for many invasive species (Corbit, Marks, & Gardescu, 1999;Fekete, Mesterházy, Valkó, & Molnár, 2018;Francis, Chadwick, & Turbelin, 2019).…”