> Genetic diversity is not all bad.
Correct. In fact, it is very good. The problem is in the
definition. The diversity present in a species is what many of the recent
posts have been discussing. It is this diversity that is difficult to
preserve because of the numbers of plants one would have to maintain, and
the difficulty in really determining whether two plants are genetically
different or not, and how different they are. Hybrids, while they
increase diversity in a sense, are not desirable in terms of preserving
species because there is no way to go from a hybrid back to a species.
> I do not think that many people keep their plants for
> reintroduction to the wild, but if it was needed I am sure many people
> would respond. These plants would certainly be better than extinction and
> if they had diversified could be bred back to a survivable strain for
> reintroduction.
The concern is with what plants would be reintroduced. If you
introduce a plant that has been hybridized at some point in it's distant
past to a site where the species exists, and that plant's offspring come
to replace the species that were present, you've now done serious harm to
that site.
> Someone showed disapproval when I suggested putting some of my
> surplus p. grandiflora hibernaculi into wild bogs. There has been news of
> s. pupurea, flava and other nonindigenous plants being found in bogs in
> England. Disapproval is stated, but it is also said that these plants
> should be protected.
> I do not understand the contradiction.
Anytime you introduce a species of plant or animal into a site
they do not naturally occur, you are perturbing the ecology of that site.
In many cases, the organism you introduce will simply die out and little
harm has been done. However, often the organism will do well in the new
location. The usual predators, competitors, etc. are lacking. This has
happened over and over again. Many of the plants and animals living in
Florida and Hawaii, for example, are non-natives. In the process of
growing in their new habitats, they replace native plants or animals. If
you introduce your P. grandiflora plants into wild bogs, and they replace
some species of plants already growing there, you've done irreparable
damage to that bog. It might look like an improvement because now there's
a cool new type of plant growing there, but to my mind if in the process
you've eliminated something that was present, it's a poorer place. I
would encourage great care before considering introducing non-native
plants into wild sites. It is almost always a big mistake.
Wayne Forrester