Ecosystem services provided by orchids: a global analysis

Abstract

Background: Orchids constitute one of the most diverse group of plants, they provide a large number of benefits to human society. Questions: What are the ecosystem services provided by orchids? Data description: We performed a systematic review based on 413 articles, of which 224 provide relevant information, focusing on publications by ecosystem service category, continent, genus, and quartile of journal. Study site and years studied: studies of orchids on all continents from 2000 to 2021. Methods: databases reviewed were BioOne, CONRICyT, EBSCO, EndNote, Google Scholar, JSTOR, Mendeley, ScienceDirect, Wiley library, as well as reviews of specialized books. Results: We found 75 articles on cultural services, followed by 66 on provisioning services, 64 on supporting and 19 on regulating services. The Epidendroideae subfamily was the most mentioned with 90.9 %, with the genus Dendrobium having the most mentions (39.13 %). Most of the orchid ecosystem service research was conducted on the American and Asian continents, where cultural and provisioning services were prevalent, respectively. Of all the publications, 54.7 % belong to quartile 1, and 2.4 % to quartile 4. Conclusions: This research contributes to our understanding of ecosystem services provided by orchids, which may allow us a more comprehensive understanding of how human society benefits from orchids, and what could be lost if these species are not conserved and used sustainably.