In Epirus, Greece, orchids have been traditionally harvested for the production of salep, a beverage made from their tubers. Over-collection of orchids for salep is believed to be a growing threat to wild species, yet very little research has concentrated on orchid populations in the wild. Here, we studied the impact of salep collection on population demographic parameters and uniformity of distribution patterns of the Elder-flowered orchid, Dactylorhiza sambucina, the most commonly collected orchid in northern Greece. We carried out fieldwork in four meadows where salep harvesting occurs, and conducted interviews in villages close to these sites. Fieldwork focused on the demographic parameters of orchid populations and on the characteristics of their habitat (natural-anthropogenic). We also measured population size and distribution, extent and multi-scale density, comparing distributions to Poisson and fractal models. According to interviews, salep collection by the local community has decreased, contrary to collection by people outside the community, which is increasing. Interviewees did not believe that orchid abundance was higher in the past; they claim that it can be very variable. None of the participants seemed aware of the legislation to conserve orchids. Demographic parameters did not seem to be strongly dependent on whether it was a harvested and non-harvested sites and population density was greatest in the site of highest collection pressure. Our findings show that salep collection is still ongoing in Epirus. Our interview results and our population study indicate that current levels of collection are not significantly affecting the abundance of the Elder-flowered orchid in Epirus subalpine meadows. However, the expanding commercial collection could reach levels that threaten the species. There is a need for a longer-term monitoring of these orchid populations, and a more effective modeling of the species’ response to different harvesting pressures.

中文翻译：

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Salep 收集对保护希腊伊庇鲁斯的接骨木兰 (Dactylorhiza sambucina) 的意义

在希腊的伊庇鲁斯，传统上采摘兰花用于生产 salep，一种由其块茎制成的饮料。人们认为过度收集兰花以供萨利普使用对野生物种的威胁越来越大，但很少有研究集中在野外的兰花种群上。在这里，我们研究了 salep 收集对希腊北部最常收集的兰花 Dactylorhiza sambucina 的人口统计参数和分布模式均匀性的影响。我们在四个进行了 Salep 收获的草地进行了实地考察，并在靠近这些地点的村庄进行了采访。实地工作的重点是兰花种群的人口统计参数及其栖息地的特征（自然-人为）。我们还测量了人口规模和分布，范围和多尺度密度，将分布与泊松模型和分形模型进行比较。据采访，当地社区的salep收集减少了，而社区外的人收集却在增加。受访者不相信过去的兰花丰度更高；他们声称它可能非常多变。似乎没有一个参与者知道保护兰花的立法。人口统计参数似乎并不强烈依赖于它是否是收获和未收获的地点，并且人口密度在最高采集压力的地点最大。我们的调查结果表明，伊庇鲁斯仍在继续收集 Salep。我们的采访结果和人口研究表明，目前的收集水平并没有显着影响伊庇鲁斯亚高山草甸中接骨木兰花的丰度。然而，不断扩大的商业收藏可能会达到威胁该物种的水平。需要对这些兰花种群进行长期监测，并更有效地模拟该物种对不同收获压力的反应。