Diversity, natural history, and conservation of Vanilla of Madre de Dios, Peru
2007
Thesis
116
Texas Christian University
Fort Worth, USA
Los Amigos;swamps;wetlands;plants;orchids;Orchidaceae;Vanilla pompona;natural history;inventories;phenology;intermediate spatial scales;conservation
Five species of sympatric Vanilla (Orchidaceae) occur in the wetlands of Madre de Dios, Peru. The majority of species emanate from very different phytogeographic regions but one seems to be a previously undocumented species. All species are fully described and their habits, life histories, pollination strategies, dispersal strategies, and ecologies are detailed and discussed. Little is known concerning the vegetation communities of these upper Amazonian wetlands and this system continues to be severely understudied. Sixteen wetlands spanning over 200 km of floodplain habitat were visited in order to document the local distribution of each species. This marks the most geographically extensive study of this wetland system to date and Vanilla is used as a model in order to create hypotheses concerning larger vegetation patterns in the region. Habitat of a single, potentially commercial species is classified using satellite imagery and the conservation implications discussed.