Canada
Presenter: Tom Kaye is Chief Scientist and Founder at the Institute for Applied Ecology, a nonprofit organization with a mission to conserve native habitats and species through research, restoration, and education.
As global climates change rapidly, plants are responding in a variety of ways, including advances in phenology, and upward and poleward range shifts. These processes are resulting in local extinction and loss of diversity. Restoration ecologists need to consider mixing genotypes of climate adapted populations into locally adapted seed sources. Research is needed to better understand where and when nonlocal genotypes will most help local populations become resilient to climate change. Common garden experiments set up as assisted migration trials are one tool for ensuring our approaches improve climate resiliency and minimize unintended risks. But due to the rapid pace of climate change, practitioners should consider increasing genetic diversity of plants used in restorations even before research is completed, especially for common plant species with wide geographic distributions.