Poplar plantations in Turkey: an overlooked habitat for orchids

Molnár, V. Attila and Fekete, Réka and Süveges, Kristóf and Lovas-Kiss, Ádám and Löki, Viktor and Nagy, Timea and Takács, Attila (2022) Poplar plantations in Turkey: an overlooked habitat for orchids. BOTANIKAI KÖZLEMÉNYEK, 109 (1). pp. 55-66. ISSN 0006-8144

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Abstract

Turkey’s orchid flora is one of the richest in the Mediterranean region, but is also under threat from intensification of agriculture, land-use change, habitat loss, overgrazing and salep harvesting (tuber collection). With this study, we would like to draw attention to the importance of economic poplar plantations as orchid habitats. In six of the eight plantations surveyed in five provinces of Turkey, altogether 12 orchid species (Anacamptis elegans, A. fragrans, A. pyramidalis, Cephalanthera longifolia, C. damasonium, Epipactis helleborine, E. persica, Himantoglossum jankae, Ophrys apifera, O. oestrifera, Ophrys sp., Serapias feldwegiana) were found. In the plantations with an average area of only 0.27 ± 0.21 hectares, the presence of 0–5 orchid species was recorded (mean ± SD = 1.88 ± 1.80). The density of orchid populations varied from 0 to 355.6 specimens per hectare. Both tuberous and rhizomatous orchids were encountered in the studied plantations, but the former ones were dominant: 8 species (67%) and 232 specimens (94%) of the studied orchids were tuberous. The average trunk diameter in poplar plantations harboring orchids ranged from 16.7 to 21.8 cm. In the surveyed plantations, there were no traces of tuber harvesting or overgrazing, which may contribute to their suitability as habitat for orchids. Considering the recent extent of poplar plantations and their expected further increase in Turkey, studying their role in orchid conservation seems important and timely.

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