Introduction _____________________________________________________________________________________

Orchid populations in the Spanish Mediterranean coast are highly diverse due to the abundance of varied habitats in a relatively small geographical area. Many different environments can be found from sea level up to more than 1000 m of altitude.

In the Marina Region, located in the Alicante province (Region of Valencia, Spain) there are about 30 species of orchids, most of them live in endangered areas due to the increasing urban development. In recent decades, the dramatic changes in land use have had an impact on the populations of orchids. However, the specific impact, whether a positive or a negative one, is yet to be examined thoroughly. The project “Monitoring orchid populations in the Marina Region” aims at monitoring the evolution of the orchid populations in this context of recent land use change. Additionally, thanks to our on-site measurements, we gain knowledge on the biometric, geographical distribution and ecological aspects of the studied orchid species.

The second and third editions of this expedition were carried out in spring 2007 and 2008 by two teams. People from Scotland, Colorado, Pennsylvania and Spain came to the Marina Region as volunteers to do field work research on orchids.

This report shows the main results of the 2007 and 2008 expeditions as well as some comments about the outcomes obtained so far (all editions). The methodology used to gain the data, the description of the habitats we visited during the expedition and a review of our activities in the field can be examined in the report of the 1st edition of the expedition.

Results___________________________________________________________________________________________

In 2007, a total of 627 records were collected out of 14 orchid species (Table 1), that is, we found 4 species more than in the 2006 expedition. We recorded more data as part of permanent plots than from individual records. The orchid species we encountered in our journey correspond to the following: Anacamptis pyramidalis, Ophrys apifera, Ophrys lupercalis, Ophrys lutea, Ophrys scolopax, Ophrys dianica, Ophrys bilunulata, Ophrys arnoldii, Neotinea maculata, Serapias parviflora, Orchis fragans, Orchis olbiensis, Orchis champagneuxii and Aceras anthropophorum. The number of total records of each orchid species is depicted in Figure 1. A total of 6 new permanent plots were placed. New locations included some spots at the north-western valleys of the Marina Region: the Laguar and Gallinera’s Valleys. A permanent plot was also placed on the north face of the Xortà Sierra. Additionally, we placed some more plots in last year’s orchid-abundant locations, like in the coastal spot of San Martin Cape. On the plots we recorded data from 371 individuals out of 9 species (Table 1): Anacamptis pyramidalis, Ophrys apifera, Ophrys lutea, Ophrys scolopax, Ophrys dianica, Ophrys bilunulata, Serapias parviflora, Aceras anthropophorum and Orchis fragans.

In 2008, a total of 712 records were collected out of 9 species (Table 2, Figure 2). As in 2006, we recorded more data from individual records than from permanent plots. It is the year with the greatest number of individual records (575, Table 3). The orchid species studied were: Anacamptis pyramidalis, Ophrys apifera, Ophrys lupercalis, Ophrys lutea, Ophrys scolopax, Serapias parviflora, Orchis tenera, Orchis olbiensis and Aceras anthropophorum. The percentage of records of each orchid species is depicted in Figure 2. We explored some new locations like the NW slopes of the Xortà Sierra, the Serrella Sierra, the Aitana Sierra and the Ebo and Alcalà Valleys (Figure 7). Only one new plot of Ophrys lutea was placed in the Alcalà Valley, additionally, we revisited 1st edition’s Bernia Sierra plot to be able to determine the evolution of the orchids over one year. We recorded 137 individuals out of 3 species (Table 2): Aceras anthropophorum, Ophrys lupercalis and Ophrys lutea.

Table 1. 2007 edition. Number of records per species and totals.

Table 2. 2008 edition. Number of records per species and totals.

Figure 1. – 2007 edition. Number of total records of each orchid species.

Figure 2. – 2008 edition. Number of total records of each orchid species.

Some of the places we have been working at in the 2007 & 2008 Expedition can be seen in Figures 2-5. We revisited the Ophrys lutea 2006 new finding and found many more populations than in the previous year (Figure 6).

Aceras anthropophorum	Ophrys lupercalis
Ophrys scolopax	Ophrys bilunulata
Ophrys lutea	Anacamptis pyramdalis
Serapias parviflora	Orchis olbiensis
Orchis fragans	Orchis champagneuxii
Neotinea maculata

Figure 10. Some of the species studied in the expedition.

Figure 3. Working locations at the Laguar Valley. The Xortà Sierra can be seen on the background.

Figure 11. Volunteers gathering data at the Laguar Valley.

Figure 4. Working locations on the San Martin Cape and Montgó Mountain.

Figure 12. Pollinator catching session at the coastal location of San Marin Cape.

Figure 5. Working locations at the Gallinera Valley.

Figure 13. Working on a plot of Ophrys scolopax at the Gallinera Valley.

Figure 6. Revisited location and new population findings of Ophrys lutea.

Figure 14. Working on Ophrys lutea.

As can be seen in Figure 7, in the 2007 edition some locations were revisited but most of them were new and located in the northern half of the Marina Region. In 2008 we focused our interest on the western half of the region, only visiting one spot previously studied in earlier editions. Figures 3-7 show the rugged, mountainous and varied terrain we work at. The peculiar orography of the area creates microclimates that, combined with the unique Natural History of the area, make the Marina Region orchid abundant and diverse in species amongst European ecoregions. The map in Figure 7 shows the pretty even distribution of studying spots we have accomplished through the Marina Region so far. Still, many locations and potential ‘hot spots’ remain unexplored and cannot be discovered without on-site exploration. Hopefully, as it has been the case so far, in future editions of the expedition we will discover new, previously ignored, orchid spots. This will enrich the database with valuable data of orchid species distribution, ecology and biology.

Figure 7. 2006, 2007 and 2008 Expedition working locations.

Discussion and future work________________________________________________

So far, considering the three editions of the Orchid Expedition in the Marina Region, we have a total of over 2200 data on orchid individuals (Table 3) of 18 species (i.e. the 60% of the species found in the province of Alicante). Figure 8 depicts the number of data on orchid individuals per species and per year. The fluctuation between years depends on the locations visited and the local climate for that year, i.e. the response of the species to the temperature and precipitation. Figure 9 shows the absolute (all years) number of data on orchid individuals per species. It is notable that the two species with more data are considered rare in the Valencia region. Further analysis merits to be done to see if the rarity of these species (especially Ophrys lutea) should be reconsidered.

The gathered data consists on the ecology of the species, their distribution, phenology, number of flowers, fecundation status, and biometric data like the flower size, plant height and leaves/basal rosette diameter. That is about 14 data per individual which makes over 30000 data so far. All of this data is being digitalized in a database to be able to explore and analyse the outcomes of all the measures gathered in the field. In addition, every orchid population has its own GPS-location data associated so that the exact location of all of the ecological-biometric data is known. In that sense, the database we are developing is a geo-database and, thus, will be part of an Orchid Geographical Information System (O-GIS). The O-GIS opens a whole new window of possibilities of analysis and data exploration as it can be combined with other layers of data like the elevation, climate, land-cover, habitat, human-induced disturbances, satellite imagery, etc.

Table 3. Number of individual records, records from permanent plots and totals from 2006, 2007 and 2008 Expeditions.

Figure 8. Number of data on orchid individuals per species and per year.

Figure 9. Number of data on orchid individuals per species, all years.

Currently we are analysing part of the data gathered during the three editions of the expedition. The results and new findings will be published in a peer-reviewed journal, expectantly Investigaciones Geográficas or similar. The dissemination of the resulting information and findings will be useful to the scientific community and people in general. That way, we would like to ensure the significance of the project to the society and science.

More measurements will be needed in order to evaluate the evolution of the plots over time. Therefore, new editions of the expeditions will take place in the future.

As a conclusion __________________________________________________________________________________________________

The first editions of the expedition have been very interesting and fruitful according to the results and the experiences themselves. Attendant’s opinions encourage us to organize more editions. And why? Because, on one hand, the scenic environments we visit conform pleasant working experiences in the field. People get very satisfied after the week living with us. On the other hand, we already know that in a medium term period we will have enough information to state more definitive results, some of them previously unknown and, presumably, unpredicted or unexpected.

We would like to thank every volunteer who came to experience with us an unforgettable week and we are really pleased of inviting you to share this adventure for next spring.

We hope to see you soon.

Best regards,

Toni Barber & Nico Moity

Acknowledgements __________________________________________________________________

The project “Monitoring orchid populations in the Marina Region” could not be achieved without the volunteers that join us in the expedition. We would like to thank the volunteers who came in former editions, Karen, Julia, Esther, Daniel, Vicente, Marc, Sophie, Gaia, Charlotte, Eugene, Michele, Gillian, Deirdre, David, Bob and Noelia, for their support, energy and valuable time exploring the orchids of the Marina region.

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