RE: Genetic Diversity
Michael.Chamberland (23274MJC@MSU.EDU)
Thu, 26 Dec 96 13:05 EST
> From: Wayne Forrester <forrestr@mendel.Berkeley.EDU>
>
> > 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.
>
As Wayne has pointed out, re-introduction (as a desirable conservation
procedure) shouldn't be confused with the introduction of exotic (non-native)
species into a habitat. A recent article which delves into the magnitude of
the exotic species problem is "Biological Invasions as Global Environmental
Change" by Vitousek, D'Antonio, Loope, and Westbrooks in the Sept-Oct 1996
issue of American Scientist, p. 468-478.
A recent paper discussing genetic diversity in CP is "Genetic structure of
two endangered pitcher plants, Sarracenia jonesii and Sarracenia oreophila
(Sarraceniaceae)" by Godt and Hamrick, in American Journal of Botany 83(8):
1016-1023, 1996.
Michael Chamberland