Collapse of orchid populations altered traditional knowledge and cultural valuation in Sichuan, China

Abstract Biological and cultural diversity are integrally linked, yet understanding the cultural impact of biological extinction events is limited. The orchid richness of Southwest China’s Sichuan Province is the second highest in China, but price speculation and overharvest have resulted in significant recent orchid population collapses. Due to the importance of Cymbidium orchids to Han Chinese traditional culture, we sought to test the relationship between the decline of these populations on four different orchid knowledge domains and account for various socio-demographic variables on the local scale. Interviews were conducted in eight villages in rural Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture: four Han-majority and four Yi-majority. Using photographic-cue-cards of nine Cymbidium taxa, aggregate- and specific-knowledge were assessed of 15 randomly selected individuals per village (120 total), in three age groups. We found that culturally-important orchid knowledge was negatively impacted by species decline, across all knowledge domains, regardless of pre-extinction orchid rarity, and regardless of socio-demographic variables. Following population collapse, the decline in perceived economic value of orchid knowledge outweighed the influence of cultural veneration that traditionally drove Cymbidium knowledge acquisition. These findings highlight how biodiversity loss not only negatively affects the ecology and environment, but also culture, with profound implications for cultural resilience and biocultural diversity conservation efforts.