Journal for Nature Conservation 20 (2012) 109–116 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Journal for Nature Conservation jou rn al h omepage: www.elsevier.de/jnc Testing appropriate habitat outside of historic range: The case of Amorpha herbacea var. crenulata (Fabaceae) Julissa Roncal a,c , Joyce Maschinski a,∗ , Bruce Schaffer b , S. Michael Gutierrez b , Donald Walters a a Center for Tropical Plant Conservation, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, 11935 Old Cutler Road, Coral Gables (Miami), FL 33156, USA b Tropical Research and Education Center, University of Florida, 18905 SW 280 St., Homestead, FL 33031, USA c Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement, 911 Av. Agropolis, BP 64501, 34394 Montpellier Cedex 5, France a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 9 June 2011 Received in revised form 12 September 2011 Accepted 26 September 2011 Keywords: Conservation introduction Hydrological change Microhabitat Recipient site Reintroduction Restoration Soil water content a b s t r a c t In the next century, safeguarding plant species against extinction from complete land conversion may require introducing species to novel locations. Although regulatory agencies caution against translocation outside of known historic ranges, when most wild populations and their habitats have been severely altered few viable options may be available for conserving rare plants. We introduced 345 endangered Amorpha herbacea var. crenulata along a pine rockland/transverse glade gradient with similar attributes to historically known occurrences for south Florida, USA, and monitored their survival and growth for five years. The experimental phase addressed: (1) Is the recipient site suitable for colonisation of this species despite hydrological manipulation in the region? (2) Can translocated plants grow equally well in four microhabitats along a gradient within the recipient site? We characterised soil water content, soil nutrient, and vegetation cover to assess the microhabitats at the recipient site. From 2006 to 2008 plants survived in all four microhabitats, but had highest survival in pineland. Translocated plants grew best in microhabitats with less grass cover and higher P content – the pineland and the restoration glade. Through 2008 we observed consistently higher soil water content with less total vegetation cover in pineland and significantly higher P content in the restoration glade. Using 2006–2008 data, we implemented the adaptive management phase, moving 20 plants from the lowest survival microhabitat to the highest survival microhabitat. This tactic improved the survival of plants by 2011, though growth rates of moved plants did not improve. Short-distance translocation, assessing environmental attributes related to plant survival and growth, quantifying similarity of soil, temperature, precipitation, and community as in this study are recommended to evaluate prospective introduction sites for translocations within or outside of range. © 2011 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. Introduction Worldwide endangered species struggle to persist in urban settings due to anthropogenic disturbance. Changes in land use, cli- mate, and sea level pose a threat to many rare native species, which face the genetic and ecological challenges of surviving in scarce intact or altered urban fragments. A conservation introduction as defined by the IUCN (1998) is an attempt to establish a species, for the purpose of conservation, outside of its recorded distribu- tion but within an appropriate habitat and ecogeographical area. This is a feasible conservation tool only when there is no remaining area left within a species’ historic range (IUCN 1998). Introduc- tions and reintroductions are becoming an increasingly important conservation tool to preserve endangered species (Griffith, Scott, Carpenter, & Reed 1989; Menges 2008). Introductions are ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 305 669 4069. E-mail address: jmaschinski@fairchildgarden.org (J. Maschinski). particularly problematic if conditions within landscapes have changed beyond historic variation previously experienced by the species. Although introduction outside historic range is considered as one of the last conservation actions to prevent species extinc- tion or ecosystem collapse (Hoegh-Guldberg et al. 2008), this may be the best conservation option when all historic habitat has been altered or destroyed and extinction threats remain high. Introducing a plant species requires knowing its habitat require- ments (SER 2004; Vallee et al. 2004; Maschinski et al. in press), which may be difficult to assess, because accurate historical records are seldom available and species may be occupying margins of their fundamental niche (Aronson, Floret, Le Floc’h, Ovalle, & Pontanier 1993; Hobbs 2007). Before initiating any introduction, understand- ing the abiotic and vegetation characteristics at the restoration site, how they have changed, and how they can be managed is also advised (Hobbs 2007; Maschinski et al. in press). Because ongoing anthropogenic changes in land use and climate are constant and often irreversibly alter the biophysical settings (Vitousek, Mooney, Lubchenko, & Melillo 1997; Hobbs 2007), realistic restoration goals 1617-1381/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jnc.2011.09.003