RE: Australian ferns

If the entire population of a species goes through a single individu bottleneck, the loss of genetic variation will be such that from a conservational point of view little has been gained beyond extinction. It's a good thing that after such a rescue we can still admire representatives of the species, but one might wonder whether it is still capable of functioning as a true species.

Wim

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-ferns@hort.net [o*@hort.net]On Behalf Of
Peter Bostock
Sent: Tue, April 04, 2006 23:47 
To: ferns@hort.net
Subject: RE: [ferns] Australian ferns


 Hi, Bob,

...

There are also increasing arguments about cost of protecting species
whose populations may have reached critical viability levels. However in
many cases, the only non-viable population for some ferns is zero, since
many have vegetative reproduction and a single plant can persist for a
very long time as rhizome growing ahead and dying off behind. Pteridium
springs to mind, but also Microsorum, Drynaria and many others in
Polypodiaceae, Thelypteridaceae etc.

...

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