Translocations of threatened plants in the Mediterranean Basin: current status and future directions

Abstract

The Mediterranean Basin is one of the World’s plant diversity hotspots and a region prone to several anthropic pressures, besides being one of the World’s areas most susceptible to climate change. In this region, which hosts a high percentage of threatened species, there has been a large increase in practical conservation actions to prevent the extinction of many plants or improve their conservation status. In this framework, plant translocations have become increasingly important. To obtain a picture of the status and to depict possible directions, data on plant translocations was collected through the available databases, national experts, and the grey literature available online. Overall, a list of 836 translocations relating to 572 plant species was found. These actions are mainly concentrated in Spain, France, and Italy (c. 87%) and, except for some pioneering actions, translocations have strongly increased starting from 2010. A subsequent in-depth bibliographic search of the scientific databases was conducted to determine how much information about plant translocations was documented in the scientific literature. This search resulted in a list of 133 peer-reviewed papers, of which only 17 describing one or more translocations and, as a whole, reporting 101 experiences carried out on 56 plant species. Our research highlighted a great discrepancy between the scarce scientific documentation in comparison to the large number of practical conservation actions carried out. The great experience gained in these translocations constitutes an enormous heritage potentially available to implement the necessary conservation actions to preserve the plant diversity of the Mediterranean Basin.

Will they be back? A framework to guide rare macrophyte conservation decisions in lakes

“…The decision-making basis for employing ecological restoration and/or species translocation as tools for increasing the range of threatened macrophytes needs to be informed by good evidence so that appropriate decisions are made. There has been a marked increase in plant translocations globally since around 2010, despite there being a relatively poor understanding of what governs the success of such interventions (Fenu et al 2023). In combining palaeoecology with historical and current data on species occurrence in three United Kingdom regions, we discuss the appropriateness of translocation in each case.…”

“…Reintroductions of rare species have become increasingly important and popular in conservation and, where none of the pre‐conditions above exist, translocations might be needed to facilitate establishment of lost species and genotypes (Jeppesen et al 2012). Movement of rare and at‐risk species is difficult, and poor success has been attributed to ill‐informed transplantation efforts (Fahselt 2007; Blindow et al 2021; Fenu et al 2023), hence careful decision‐making involving feasibility and risk assessments is required (World Conservation Union 2013).…”

“…The questions around whether a species can return, and what restoration strategies are appropriate, are important not only for aquatic systems but also for restoration ecology more widely (Sayer et al 2019). There is much debate across wetland habitats concerning whether sites under restoration should be allowed to seed naturally via dispersal and remnant seed banks or whether plants should be actively introduced (Rodrigo 2021; Fenu et al 2023). Conservation translocation (translocation, hereafter), defined as “the human‐mediated movement of living organisms or propagules for conservation benefit from one area, with release in another” (World Conservation Union 2013) has shown promise for wetland plants but is not without risks and challenges (Orsenigo 2018; Rodrigo 2021).…”

Maternal effects and inbreeding depression in post‐translocation progeny of Campanula glomerata

“…Reintroduction in extirpated populations and reinforcement of inbred and genetically impoverished populations through plant translocation has become a popular restoration practice for the recovery of viable and evolutionarily resilient populations of critically endangered species (e.g., Zimmer et al 2019;Fenu et al 2023). Genetic monitoring based on neutral molecular markers (microsatellites, SNPs) can evaluate whether genetic restoration has been effective in reinforced populations and whether translocation has recreated populations with a highly diverse gene pool (e.g., Van Rossum et al 2020;Van Rossum & Hardy 2022 and references cited therein;Dillon et al 2023).…”

“…2019; Fenu et al . 2023). Genetic monitoring based on neutral molecular markers (microsatellites, SNPs) can evaluate whether genetic restoration has been effective in reinforced populations and whether translocation has recreated populations with a highly diverse gene pool (e.g., Van Rossum et al .…”