Risks and opportunities of assisted colonization: the perspectives of experts

被引:8
作者
Kracke, Irma [1 ]
Essl, Franz [1 ,2 ]
Zulka, Klaus [3 ]
Schindler, Stefan [3 ,4 ]
机构
[1] Univ Vienna, Dept Bot & Biodivers Res, Macroecol Grp, Rennweg 14, A-1030 Vienna, Austria
[2] Stellenbosch Univ, Dept Bot & Zool, Ctr Invas Biol, ZA-7602 Matieland, South Africa
[3] Environm Agcy Austria, Spittelauer Lande 5, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
[4] Czech Univ Life Sci Prague, Fac Engn, Community Ecol & Conservat Res Grp, Kamycka 129, Prague 16500, Czech Republic
来源
NATURE CONSERVATION-BULGARIA | 2021年 / 45期
关键词
Biodiversity conservation; climate change; conservation management; survey; tools; translocation; CLIMATE-CHANGE IMPACTS; ECOLOGICAL ETHICS; BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION; MANAGED RELOCATION; MIGRATION; DEBATE; FUTURE; TRANSLOCATIONS; STRATEGIES; NEED;
D O I
10.3897/natureconservation.45.72554
中图分类号
X176 [生物多样性保护];
学科分类号
090705 ;
摘要
Owing to climate change and other anthropogenic environmental changes, the suitability of locations is changing for many biota that consequently have to adapt in situ or to move to other areas. To mitigate the effects of such pressures, assisted colonization is a conservation tool developed to reduce extinction risks by intentionally moving and releasing an organism outside its native range, and thus, to facilitate tracking changing environmental conditions. This conservation tool has been proposed for threatened animals or plants that presumably cannot adapt in situ or follow environmental changes by dispersal or migration. However, there have been contentious debates about the shortcomings and risks of implementing assisted colonization. For this reason, we evaluated the specific opinions of global experts for assisted colonization on potential risks and opportunities that this approach offers. For this purpose, we used an online survey targeted at authors of scientific publications on assisted colonization. The majority (82%) of the 48 respondents were in favor of applying assisted colonization for species that are at risk of global extinction due to anthropogenic environmental change. Most respondents agreed that assisted colonization should be considered only when other conservation tools are not available and that certain preconditions must be met. Some of these were already highlighted in the IUCN guidelines for assisted colonization and include a completed risk assessment, clearly defined management plans and secured political as well as financial support. The advocacy of assisted colonization in response to anthropogenic global environmental changes was only weakly dependent on the geographic origin of the experts and their working background. Regarding possible risks, most of the respondents were concerned about consequences like failure of the long-term establishment of the translocated species and the transmission of diseases and invasiveness potentially endangering native biota. To keep these risks as low as possible most of the experts agreed that a target area must have a reasonable carrying capacity to sustain a minimum viable population and that adaptive management should be implemented. Careful evaluation of assisted colonization projects is required to generate further evidence that needs to be considered for further developing conservation tools for the Anthropocene.
引用
收藏
页码:63 / 84
页数:22
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