Transcript SAVE TORREYA From the Brink of Oblivion!!!!!!!!!

SAVE TORREYA From the Brink of
Oblivion!!!!!!!!!
Why save Torreya?
• Only one wild population: Biltmore Gardens
• Brink of extinction: fewer than 1000
individuals remain
• It’s easy, legal, and cheap
• Global warming is going to shift Torreya’s
habitat and without assisted movement
Torreya will cease to exist
Preserving Ecosystem Function
• Torreya’s habitat is similar to that of many other
species like tuliptrees, sweet gum trees, bald
cypress, hemlocks, and a host of shrubs and forbs
(such as mayapple).
• Presumably, a climatic shift could render these
species vulnerable to extinction as well
• Assisting the migration of Torreya could serve as a
pilot study in saving these other species and
preserving ecosystem functioning in these
habitats
• Large and irrevocable impacts little
understood by scientists
– We will never reach a point in which we
completely understand every contingency
in ecosystems
– Time is of the essence. If we don’t act now,
it could be TOO LATE!!
• Just as the Torreya has been disappearing
from our presentation, so too will this
beautiful, important and enchanting tree
vanish into the sands of time if we don’t act
NOW!
• If you have a genuine desire to counteract the
disequilibria with nature that humans have
caused please visit: www.torreyaguardians.org