Review Assisted migration of plants: Changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes Pati Vitt a, * , Kayri Havens b , Andrea T. Kramer c , David Sollenberger a , Emily Yates a a Dixon National Tallgrass Prairie Seed Bank, Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, IL 60022, USA b Division of Plant Biology and Conservation, Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, IL 60022, USA c Botanic Gardens Conservation International US, Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, IL 60022, USA article info Article history: Received 1 April 2009 Received in revised form 13 August 2009 Accepted 15 August 2009 Available online 23 September 2009 Keywords: Assisted migration Assisted colonization Managed relocation Climate change Range shifts Seed banking Biodiversity conservation abstract Rapid climate change has the potential to alter the location of bioclimatic envelopes for a significant por- tion of the world’s flora. Plant species will respond variously via phenotypic plasticity, evolutionary adap- tation, migration, or extinction. When fragmentation limits migration potential of many species or when natural migration rates are outstripped by the pace of climate change, some propose purposeful, human- mediated migration (assisted migration) as a solution. Here, we join the debate on assisted migration, and while recognizing the potential negative impacts, present a strategy to collect and bank seeds of plant species at risk of extinction in the face of rapid climate change to ensure that emerging habitats are as species-diverse as possible. We outline the framework currently being used by the Dixon National Tall- grass Prairie Seed Bank to prioritize species for seed banking, both for restoration purposes and for poten- tial assisted migration in the future. We propose a strategy for collecting across the entirety of a species range, while targeting populations likely to go extinct under climate change, determined by application of species distribution models. Finally, we discuss current international efforts to collect and bank the global flora, as well as the research needs necessary to fully undertake the strategy presented. Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................... 18 2. Conservation, restoration and assisted migration ............................................................................ 19 2.1. Prioritizing and banking now for the future ........................................................................... 20 2.2. Propagule collection and provenance................................................................................. 21 2.3. Timing and costs ................................................................................................. 22 2.4. Geopolitical boundaries ........................................................................................... 23 3. Research needs ........................................................................................................ 24 3.1. Dynamic seed transfer zones ....................................................................................... 24 3.2. Producing large quantities of seeds to allow successful restoration ........................................................ 24 3.3. Monitoring current trends to predict future needs ...................................................................... 25 4. Conclusions ........................................................................................................... 25 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................... 25 References ........................................................................................................... 25 1. Introduction Faced with a changing climate, plant species will respond plas- tically by changing their phenology or physiological responses, adapt to new climatic conditions via selection, migrate to a more suitable climate, or go extinct (Davis and Shaw, 2001). Species that succeed in a rapidly changing climate are likely to have ample ge- netic variation for traits important in the new environment, broad ecological amplitudes, highly plastic phenotypes, short generation times, or adaptations for long distance seed dispersal. However, cli- mate change is rapidly shifting climate envelopes for plants pole- ward (Walther et al., 2002; Hampe and Petit, 2005) and to higher elevations (Kelly and Goulden, 2008; Lenoir et al., 2008; Trivedi 0006-3207/$ - see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2009.08.015 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 847 835 8268; fax: +1 847 835 6975. E-mail addresses: pvitt@chicagobotanic.org (P. Vitt), khavens@chicagobotani- c.org (K. Havens), andrea.kramer@bgci.org (A.T. Kramer), dsollenberger@chicago- botanic.org (D. Sollenberger), eyates@chicagobotanic.org (E. Yates). Biological Conservation 143 (2010) 18–27 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Biological Conservation journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/biocon