Los Petreles Reserve: a refuge for the scarce orchid species in Galapagos

20 Sep 2022
While orchids are particularly abundant in the Andes, they also occur elsewhere. On the Galapagos archipelago, there are five endemic species. Habenaria monorrhiza is a native Galapagos orchid that is extremely scarce on San Cristóbal Island. Very few individual plants have been found in the El Junco protected area within the Galapagos National Park that connects with Jocotocos Los Petreles reserve. To ensure the survival of this and other orchid species native to the Galapagos, we are raising funds to build a nursery in our reserve to prioritize orchid propagation.

Beauty, resistance, and diversity define orchids, one of the most prominent plant families, with more than 25,000 species worldwide. They are among the most essential plants in ecology and evolution. One of them is Habenaria monorrhiza, known as the "tropical bog orchid" that Jocotoco will propagate in the future nursery in our Los Petreles reserve on San Cristobal Island.

Orchids have successfully colonized almost all the planet's ecosystems, except deserts and the poles, with a wide variety of orchids that grow on other plants (epiphytes) and the ground. However, in Galapagos, orchids are scarce since most grow on the ground, where thickets and introduced animals threaten them. In Ecuador, the diversity of habitats and microclimates explain why we are considered the country with a remarkable diversity of orchids globally, surpassing the number of species registered by its neighbors, Colombia and Peru.

We have found 15 plants of the Prescottia oligantha within the Los Petreles reserve, which is another scarce native species in San Cristóbal. Usually, the tiny leaves of this species cannot compete with invasive thicket, and feral pigs usually eat its thickened potato-like roots.

We are currently building a special enclosure designed to block the passage of pigs, cattle, horses, donkeys, dogs, and goats so that the orchids and petrels are free from these threats and can reproduce successfully.

Our Park Guards' orchid discovery in Jocotoco's Los Petreles reserve reinforces the importance of conserving the fragile ecosystems of the Galapagos Islands.