Bulbophyllum bacilliferum

The drivers of forest change in Papua New Guinea's forests, for example, were identified as subsistence agriculture, logging, forest fires, clearance for plantations and mine-related forest clearance (Shearman et al. 2008). In parts of its wide range it is likely to have been subject to such processes, for example, on Seram the Manusela Important Birds Area, in which this orchid occurs, has ongoing threats from logging, road-development, plantation development, mining and shifting agriculture (BirdLife International 2018) which are likely impact on the forest habitat. Fire is often associated with subsistence agriculture in New Guinea (Shearman et al. 2008) and the threat may increase with expanding human populations. The likelihood of fire increases particularly in dry years and droughts associated with El Niño events. Impacts are becoming more frequent and severe and the area of Papua New Guinea's montane forests has been significantly reduced through burning (Shearman et al. 2008). There is a low frequency and diversity of epiphytic plants in many forests known to have been burned (Johns 1989) and the impact of drought itself may also cause decline in orchid populations (E. De Vogel pers. comm. 2017). Satellite imagery suggests logging activity in the Sibil valley area of Papua Province, where this orchid has been recorded and the locality in Central Province (Papua New Guinea) also falls within a designated logging concession (Shearman et al. 2009). In New Georgia logging and the establishment of plantations have impacted on the vegetation here (Pauku 2009). Loloru on Bougainville, where this orchid was found, is an active volcano, although it has no recent eruptive history (Smithsonian Museum of Natural History 2018). However, the lower slopes of this area appear to have patchy forest cover as result of agricultural activity.

This species occurs in the c. 186,000 ha Manusela National Park in Seram. This species is covered under Schedule I of the Solomon Islands Wildlife Protection and Management Act 1998, which prohibits export of this species aside for exceptions where the exporter has a valid permit issued for scientific research purposes (Government of the Solomon Islands 1998), as well as Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora legislation (CITES 2018). It is not known to be conserved ex situ (BGCI 2017). Further protected areas and ex situ collections would help to ensure that a greater representation of the genetic diversity of this species is conserved. Research is needed to provide information about the population and habitat status and trends and there is also little information about its life history and ecology with which to identify any specific threats, for example, to pollinators or any significant mycorrhizal associates.