CITES Trade Network

Deep in the vast subtropical wetlands in southern Florida known as the Everglades, exists the rare ghost orchid that clings to life on the trunks of the bald cypress tree. This epiphyte, of which there are estimated less than 2000 in existance, is protected from removal by Florida state laws and is listed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora - CITES.

The network graph at the top of this page shows the trade network for the ghost orchid. You can see that the United States is the primary exporter with Canada being a large trading partner. You can also see that Cuba, where the orchid is also endemic, is disconnected from trading with the US and that Italy is its only trade partner.

The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) initially conceived of CITES in 1963. It was adopted by 1975 and by 2022 has 184 signatories. CITES monitors and regulates trade of more than 40000 species tracked on 3 Appendices:

• I. Species threatened by extinction
• II. Species protected to control utilization that could be detrimental to overall survival
• III. Species protected by a country that seeks assistance from CITES.

Given the convention mandate to track trades of listed species, they have a large wealth of information tracking when trades occur by species and type of trade (term). The full CITES trade database is available for download (https://trade.cites.org/).

Here the database has been converted into a dynamic network analysis that can now be filtered and viewed using different measures of centrality. Features include:

• Year filter
• Term filter
• Highlighting Importer/Export
• Edge weights by trade quantity
• Node scaling by number of trade partners including the following measures of centrality:
  --Degree
  --In-degree
  --Out-degree
  --Closeness
  --Betweenness

Please review this new resource here: https://regressi.online/cites-network/