Home Institution

Duke University

Publication Date

Spring 2012

Program Name

Madagascar: Biodiversity and Natural Resource Management

Abstract

This study examines the orchid diversity within three littoral forest sites in Southeast Madagascar. The sites, Sainte Luce, Petriky, and Mandena, are owned and managed by QIT Madagascar Minerals (QMM), an ilmenite mining organization jointly owned by Rio Tinto and the Malagasy government. The littoral forest is a habitat type dwindling in surface area; as such, it is a high conservation priority, and a portion of each of these three sites will be conserved by QMM. This study produces a list of orchid species present in the three zones, a list of host tree species on which epiphytic orchid species are found in the zones, and a comparison of species frequencies and richness of genera between zones. This study finds a total of 39 orchid species in the three zones, with the highest amount of overall orchid diversity in Sainte Luce and the highest amount of terrestrial orchid diversity in Petriky. When the species list generated by this study is combined with that from previous studies, a total of 45 orchid species and 18 genera are known within the three zones. This study adds to the knowledge of orchid biodiversity in the three zones with the goal of better enabling QMM to execute its conservation efforts within them.

Disciplines

Natural Resources and Conservation

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