The orchids of Torres del Paine Biosphere Reserve: The need for species monitoring and ecotourism planning for biodiversity conservation

Abstract

The orchid flora of Torres del Paine Biosphere Reserve (TPBR) is described based on botanical surveys, photographical records and herbarium collections carried out by the authors. This list comprises 3 genera and 9 species: Chloraea chica, Chloraea leptopetala, Chloraea magellanica, Codonorchis lessonii, Gavilea araucana, Gavilea gladysiae, Gavilea littoralis, Gavilea lutea and Gavilea supralabellata. G. gladysiae is a new record for this protected area and the first albino aberrant phenotype for flowers of Chl. magellanica is reported. A description of the species including key for determination, morphology, habitats, local abundances, flowering phenology and photographs is provided. The species richness here reported represents ca. 35% of orchids occurring in the Chilean temperate-austral floristic regions and 75% of the species described for the Magallanes Region, putting the Torres del Paine Biosphere Reserve as one of the most representative protected areas for this taxonomical group in the region. Based on our results we addressed the need of establishing monitoring programs for orchids and promote them as flagship species in ecotourism planning in order to enhance species valuation and encourage biodiversity conservation.