Abstract
Research priorities and future directions in conservation of wild orchids in Sri Lanka: a review
Highlights
The family Orchidaceae is one of the largest flowering plant families in the world, comprising about 25 000–30 000 species, and they account for approximately 8% of angiosperm species diversity (Chase et al, 2015)
An enormous literature has emphasised that the future of orchid population is threatened and many species will face the extinction from wild habitats due to anthropogenic activities
The botanist Paul Hermann (1646–1695) was the first botanist who made a collection of plants from Sri Lanka and made an impressive collection of dried plants and drawings
Summary
The family Orchidaceae is one of the largest flowering plant families in the world, comprising about 25 000–30 000 species, and they account for approximately 8% of angiosperm species diversity (Chase et al, 2015). The distribution and abundance of orchids vary between continents and within regions, following hotspot of species richness, except in the Polar Regions (Myers et al, 2000) Their distribution is not uniform, but skewed markedly towards the tropics (Cribb et al, 2003). South Asia, including the Indian sub-continent, is considered as one of the mega biodiversity hotspot (Myers et al, 2000). These zones consist of tropical, sub-tropical and temperate climate with lush green and divers forest types. The Western Ghats comprises the major portion of the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka, one of 34 global biodiversity hotspots for conservation and one of the two on the Indian subcontinent (Gunawardene et al, 2007; Myers et al, 2000)
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