Juniperus Bermudiana: a Species in Crisis, Should It Be Rescued from Introduced Junipers?

In this issue we (Adams and Wingate, pp. 123-133) have presented data that show that J. bermudiana is being subjected to hybridization and likely introgression from Darrell's cedar (J. virginiana var. silicicola) and Smith's cedar (J. v. var. virginiana). Because Dr. Wingate and I have differing philosophies on the conservation of species, we decided to omit conclusions from the previous paper (Adams and Wingate, pp. 123-133, this issue). Instead, we are presenting two 'Point of View' to summarize our conclusions. In 1942 two scale insects were accidentally introduced into Bermuda with devastating effects on Juniperus bermudiana, endemic to Bermuda. In an effort to repopulate junipers on Bermuda, two cultivated junipers were introduced by J. D. C. Darrell in the 1940s (Darrell's cedar) and Reeve Smith in the 1950s (Smith's cedar) from Florida. Analysis of SNPs of nrDNA and trnC-trnD cp DNA revealed that Darrell's cedar is Juniperus virginiana var. silicicola and Smith's cedar is Juniperus v. var. virginiana. Although this research is preliminary in scope, several facts seem apparent to the author: 1. Darrell's cedar is J. v. var. silicicola. Smith's cedar is J. virginiana var. virginiana. Both introduced cedars are resistant to the introduced scale insects and are, therefore, competitive with the endemic J. bermudiana. Darrell's cedar and Smith's cedars are widely cultivated and desirable due to their robust growth.