Biotropica. 2020;00:1–10. | 1 wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/btp Received: 12 June 2019 | Revised: 9 January 2020 | Accepted: 18 June 2020 DOI: 10.1111/btp.12854 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Sustainable harvesting and conservation of Laelia furfuracea, a rare epiphytic orchid from Oaxaca, Mexico Octavio Orozco-Ibarrola 1 | Rodolfo Solano 1 | Teresa Valverde 2 © 2020 The Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation 1 Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigación para el Desarrollo Integral Regional Unidad Oaxaca, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Oaxaca, México 2 Grupo de Ecología de Poblaciones, Departamento de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior, Ciudad Universitaria, Ciudad de México, México Correspondence Teresa Valverde, Grupo de Ecología de Poblaciones, Departamento de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Circuito Exterior, Ciudad Universitaria. Ciudad de México, C.P. 04510, México. Email: teresa.valverde@ciencias.unam.mx Funding information Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología, Grant/Award Number: 413700 and 421369; Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Grant/ Award Number: 20161110, 20170169 and 20180435. Associate Editor: Jennifer Powers Orou Gaoue Abstract Many epiphytic orchids are harvested in Mexico for different purposes. Laelia fur- furacea is one of the most intensively traded species. Its inflorescences are used as ornaments during the December festivities. We investigated the effect of severing the flowering pseudobulb. This is the traditional technique frequently used by collec- tors at the study area. We wished to investigate its effects on the production of new pseudobulbs, as well as on their size and flowering probability. Also, we examined the survival probability and growth of individuals that had fallen on the ground to evalu- ate their potential as trading resources. Inflorescence collection did not affect the production of new pseudobulbs the following season. However, it affected the size of these pseudobulbs, as well as their flowering probability. Yet, the direction of this effect was not consistent between years. Nearly six percent of all L. furfuracea plants at the study site were found on the ground. Over 80 percent of them survived for at least two years, although most of them showed pseudobulb loss over that period of time. We conclude that harvesting of flowering pseudobulbs may be sustainable in terms of its effects on plant performance, at least in the short term. The active man- agement of plants that have fallen on the ground may reduce the harvesting pressure on natural populations. Harvesting of flowering pseudobulbs may diminish some as- pects of plant performance, but its effects need to be evaluated with complete life cycle data and take into account interannual variation in vital rates. Abstract in Spanish is available with online material KEYWORDS endemic species, fallen epiphytes, inflorescence collection, non-timber forest products, pseudobulb survival 1 | INTRODUCTION Many orchid species have been harvested in Mexico since pre-Co- lumbian times. They are used for different purposes, such as or - namental, medicinal, ritual, and also as food, and as adhesives in artistic designs (Cruz-García, Lagunez-Rivera, Chavez-Angeles, & Solano-Gómez, 2015; Flores-Palacios & Valencia-Díaz, 2007; García-Peña & Peña, 1981; Hágsater, Soto, Salazar, Jiménez, López, & Dressler, 2005; Urbina, 1903). Whole plants, plant fragments, or inflorescences are extracted from their habitats to satisfy the de- mand of local markets, thus threatening the persistence of natural populations (Soto-Arenas, Solano-Gómez, & Hágsater, 2007). Little is known about the effect of harvest on the population dy- namics of epiphytic orchids and whether the levels of harvest carried