Assisted migration is "the intentional establishment of populations or meta-populations beyond the boundary of a species' historic range for the purpose of tracking suitable habitats through a period
Three types of assisted migration; assisted population migration (left), assisted range migration (center) and assisted species migration (right)
Dark blue stars indicate sites where the Torreya Guardians have sent donated seeds since their formation in 2005. The turquoise star is where seed production began in 2018.
Quino Checkerspot Butterfly on a wild hyacinth
Abies religiosa - Curtis's Botanical Magazine, Vol. 110
The Torreya Guardians is a self-organized group of conservationists dedicated to facilitating the assisted migration of the Florida torreya by rewilding it further north than its native range in Flori
Assisted migration
…Southeastern United States, at the state border region of northern Florida and southwestern Georgia. A self-organized group of conservationists called the Torreya Guardians was created in 2004 to undertake the assisted migration of this glacial relict tree by rewilding it in more northern parts of the United States. The…
Torreya Guardian Fred Bess shows seeds growing in his grove of Florida Torreya trees, Cleveland Ohio (2018)
In 2005 Connie Barlow visited California's Sierra and Coast Range mountains where the closely related California Torreya could be found. Steep slope habitats (such as here in Sequoia National Park) were what she recommended to planters in the east.
Seeds of Florida torreya ripen to a purple color at this horticultural planting in eastern North Carolina.
Florida torreya, despite its sharp-pointed leaves, is vulnerable to herbivory by deer in winter and spring, so free-planting seeds near an evergreen native fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) for camouflage is recommended by Torreya Guardians.