Well said Jane. Harold At 11:12 AM 9/4/2011, you wrote: >At 03:46 AM 9/4/2011, you wrote: > >Hi Alberto, I cant imagine how anyone could justify taking something so > >beautiful from its native environment, unless it was its last chance of > >survival. What an earth were those Netherlanders thinking..... I have never > >seen these little sapphires before & i was wondering if any sustainable > >population survived in the wild, once the original population was removed ? > > >First, as I mentioned in an earlier post, at least two native >populations have been discovered recently in the wild. The exact >locations are not being disclosed by the botanists who found them, >for obvious reasons.. > >Second, although it is true that some Tecophilaea cyanocrocus were >taken to Europe, John Watson (as always) had something memorable to >say about that, to the effect that the apparent extinction of the >species was more likely caused by overgrazing than by "spade-wielding >peasants in the pay of villainous Dutchmen." If you have been to the >former habitat of this species, you will know that much of the land >is now covered mostly by vegetation that is either thorny or >poisonous or both, almost everything else having been devoured by the >thousands of goats kept there by rural people who maintain them >largely for cheese production. (Fortunately for our interests, the >showy amaryllids of the area are poisonous.) > >The introduction of Old World livestock into the Americas is surely >the cause of a large proportion of the plant extinctions that have >occurred there, not to mention violent and rapid changes in plant >communities and subsequent effects on the fauna. Something similar >happened in the Old World millennia ago when pastoralism took hold. > >Jane McGary >Portland, Oregon, USA > > > >_______________________________________________ >pbs mailing list >pbs@lists.ibiblio.org >http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php >http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/