Temperature, topography, woody vegetation cover and anthropogenic disturbance shape the orchids distribution in the western Himalaya.

• The orchids plant diversity is assessed in the western Himalaya of Pakistan. • Orchids plant species are linked to seven distinct vegetation types. • Relatively moist and moderately warm microhabitats are important. • The higher relative abundance of woody plant species support orchids. • Increasing deforestation will affect the orchids diversity and abundance. Orchid species require unique microhabitat conditions and are globally distributed from the tropics to alpine regions. These plant species are important both ecologically and economically but are facing multiple threats, especially habitat destruction, climate change, and overexploitation. Therefore, documenting species richness, diversity, distribution, and important driving factors is crucial for biodiversity conservation. The orchid species distribution patterns and order of importance of the main driving environmental factors in the western Himalayas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir remain unclear. The main aims of this study were to explore the richness and distribution of orchids and neighboring vascular flora and to identify the principal driving environmental factors, as no study has yet targeted these plant species specifically in the study area. Field data collection surveys were conducted from August 2018 to July 2021 using the vegetation sampling method. The presence of ≥ two individuals belonging to any orchid species in a 20 × 20 m² land area criterion was used to select the study sites along the elevation gradient for data collection. Multivariate statistical tools, such as hierarchical classification and ordination, were used to analyze the data. A total of 32 orchid species belonging to 18 different Orchidaceae genera were recorded at the 57 study sites. Only one individual each of Herminium monorchis, Habenaria furcifera , and Malaxis muscifera was collected, depicting these orchids as extremely rare in the study area. A total of 324 vascular plant species (including orchids and their neighboring plant species in the studied plots) were classified into seven significantly (p < 0.05) different plant associations, each with a unique species composition. The results of canonical correspondence analysis showed that temperature variability was the most influential among the 28 environmental factors considered. Different microhabitats with an elevation range of ≥1500–3500 m a.s.l. in the central part of the study area are moister and richer in organic matter and support high orchid diversity. It was observed that a higher density of co-existing tree and shrub species and a higher geographic slope were supporting the growth and survival of orchid species as well. Conversely, higher deforestation activities and potassium levels in the soil were observed as negatively influencing factors. The influence of non-native plant species on orchid species distribution was not significant, indicating that the local orchid species were not remarkably affected when growing in microhabitats with optimal conditions. This study concluded that the central part of the study area is richer in orchid abundance and diversity and needs effective conservation and management planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]