Saving Orchids: Stories of Species Survival in a Changing World

"Until recently myriad lifeforms enriched our lives. In parts of the United States, listening to a night-time chorus of frogs in the neighborhood marsh was a normal part of childhood. During the day, children would search for tadpoles, just steps away from native Lady's Tresses orchids. Year by year, the chorus became quieter, and the marshes changed. Today, only a few frogs and orchids remain. Is this the world we want our children to inherit? Do we want orchids to slip through our fingers, and eventually to vanish? The answer is "no" for the intrepid orchid conservationists whom biologists Philip Seaton and Lawrence Zettler introduce in this inspiring and beautifully illustrated book. During the past three decades, Seaton and Zettler have traveled the globe, from Madagascar to Florida, studying orchids and the people protecting them. Readers learn the basic science of plant evolution, pollination, and reproduction to see how the orchid family became both the pinnacle of plant evolution--with upward of 27,000 species--and a canary in the coal mine for environmental degradation. Starting with a history of exploitation, of orchid fever and the looting of the tropics for their botanical treasures, the book ends with hope. Although the current perilous state of the environment can't be ignored, all around the world people are saving orchids"--