Revitalize Endangered Species

According to the 2006 IUCN Red List, there are over 7,000 species of tree that are threatened or endangered, 23 species are extinct in the wild and 79 species are gone forever.

One difficulty in revitalizing an endangered tree is a limited seed source. Seeds must be collected from the few trees that remain and used to grow seedlings in a controlled environment until they are strong enough to be planted in the wild. These young trees (depending on the species) can take up to 30 years before they begin to contribute to the seed source. Air-pruning can speed that process exponentially. All species on which air-pruning has been tested have begun to produce seeds within the first three years.

The following table shows the difference in the number of trees produced using air-pruning versus traditional methods. Several assumptions are made 1) there are 10 original trees to be used as seed source 2) one seed from every seed producing tree is collected, processed (only for air-pruned), germinated, grown and planted every year 3) traditionally grown trees require 30 years for seed production 4) air-pruned trees require 1 to 3 years for seed production and 5) there is 100% survival of all trees once planted.

Number of Original Trees	Number of Years the Planting Process is to be Repeated	Total Number of Trees at the End of the Time Period Using the air-pruning Process	Total Number of Trees at the End of the Time Period Using Traditional Methods
10	5	62	50
10	10	445	100
10	15	3,150	150
10	20	22,328	200
10	25	158,287	250
10	30	1,122,108	300

By causing trees to produce seeds in 1 to 3 years instead of 30, air-pruning increases the seed source every year exponentially. With minimal effort, as air-pruning is very simple, any endangered tree species could be revitalized.