Reconstructing a deconstructed concept: Policy tools for implementing assisted migration for species and ecosystem management

Sansilvestri, Roxane; Frascaria‐Lacoste, Nathalie; Fernández-Manjarrés, Juan F.

doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2015.04.005

Cited by 26 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Despite some debate about the potential risks and benefits of such an approach (Kreyling et al ; Frascaria‐Lacoste & Fernández‐Manjarrés ), more and more researchers consider assisted migration a promising strategy and suitable tool for dealing with the challenges posed by climate change (McLachlan et al ; Vitt et al ; Gray et al ; Aitken & Whitlock ; Gallagher et al ; Breed et al ). Consequently, practitioners are following this trend in the research literature and have begun to develop policy frameworks for implementing assisted migration within management programs (Burbidge et al ; Williams & Dumroese ; Sansilvestri et al , ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assisted migration within species range ignores biotic interactions and lacks evidence

Bucharová¹

2016

Restoration Ecology

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In the context of climate change, many plant species may have problems adapting or dispersing rapidly enough to keep pace with changing environmental conditions. Given these potential problems, some experts argue against using local plant ecotypes for ecosystem restoration. Instead, they propose to use foreign ecotypes that are adapted to the predicted climate in an approach called assisted migration within species range or predictive provenancing. I argue that such actions may cause a mismatch in biotic interactions and have negative effects on other organisms. As such, assisted migration should only be considered in cases when the local ecotypes would fail to ensure ecosystem services. In fact, there is little experimental evidence on the assisted migration approach so far, and what little there is does not seem to support its use. Even in altered climates, local ecotypes mostly performed equally well or better than foreign ones selected for their adaptations to these climates. The reason is that even if adaptation to climate plays a role, this factor may be overridden by other drivers of local adaptation, such as soil or biotic interactions. Despite assisted migration being a popular concept that is repeatedly commended in scientific literature and propagated among practitioners, it should not be considered a universal tool to improve restoration outcomes during climate change. Given the lack of hard experimental data, I call for large-scale multispecies experimental studies that will provide the necessary evidence to derive general guidelines and recommendations for management of ecosystems during climate change. Implications for Practice• Assisted migration within species range as a tool to help species to adapt to climate change may have unpredictable effects on biotic interactions. • There is little evidence that assisted migration will lead to the desired effect of increased plant performance. However, there is general lack of data. • As long as there is not sufficient evidence, I recommend local or regional provenancing as the default strategy for restoration projects.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assisted migration within species range ignores biotic interactions and lacks evidence

Bucharová¹

2016

Restoration Ecology

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“…Yet, all of these definitions focus on species or populations as the unit that is moved during AM, suggesting that the existing system can be maintained but moved to limit the impact of climate change and supporting the “business as usual” view of decisions‐makers regarding forest management. Sadly, no definition conceptualizes AM at the scale of community or ecosystem management (but see Pedlar et al ; Sansilvestri et al ). This limits the possibility of the evolution of a more ecosystem‐centered approach to AM, which in our opinion is a better approach in a climate change context to restore and reinforce the integrity and the functioning of ecosystems for current and supposed impacts.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

One option, two countries, several strategies: subjacent mechanisms of assisted migration implementation in Canada and France

Sansilvestri

Frascaria‐Lacoste

Fernández-Manjarrés

2016

Restoration Ecology

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Climate change obliges societies to develop adaptive strategies in order to maintain sustainable management of resources and landscapes. However, the development and implementation of these strategies require dialogue between researchers and policy‐makers about what they understand for adaptation. This dialogue can be hindered by language differences, the hidden agendas, and conflicting concerns of those involved. In this research study, we explored the mechanisms that underlie the implementation process of assisted migration (AM), an adaptation strategy that aims to limit the impact of climate change. We conducted a comparative analysis of 80 semistructured interviews with actors in the forestry sectors in Canada and France. In Canada, our results show a division between the provinces strategies, causing a debate about AM because researchers are wary of the geoengineering and economic arguments that frame AM in areas where the effects of climate change remain unclear. In contrast, we found that the observation of climate impacts is a strong trigger for the application of AM despite an awareness of its associated risks. In France, we explained the absence of AM implementation by a lack of information flow between research and foresters regarding the concept of AM, a cultural attachment of French foresters to their forest landscapes and that climate change effects are not clear yet. Clarity on what implies a true ecological engineering approach in ecological restoration can help maintaining adaptive actions like AM within the general scope of ecosystem management and minimize simplistic applications of adaptation strategies because of climate change.

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“…Adaptation to climate change could increase the standardization of forest ecosystems by neglecting mixtures of tree species and/or ages and skipping forest successional stages. An example is assisted migration: while species translocation or species introduction can accelerate gene flow (Sansilvestri et al 2015), they should not ignore key ecological features such as extended phenotypes (Frascaria-Lacoste and Fernández-Manjarrés 2012) or bypass the monitoring of potentially unwanted genotypes or invasive species (Lefèvre et al 2014).…”

Section: Impacts Of Climate Change Adaptations On Ecological Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The calm before the storm: How climate change drives forestry evolutions

Fouqueray

Charpentier

Trommetter

et al. 2020

Forest Ecology and Management

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Reconstructing a deconstructed concept: Policy tools for implementing assisted migration for species and ecosystem management

Cited by 26 publications

References 42 publications

Assisted migration within species range ignores biotic interactions and lacks evidence

Assisted migration within species range ignores biotic interactions and lacks evidence

One option, two countries, several strategies: subjacent mechanisms of assisted migration implementation in Canada and France

The calm before the storm: How climate change drives forestry evolutions

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