Resource Number: 14624
Title: Managed Relocation: Reducing the Risk of Biological Invasion
Publisher: National Invasive Species Council
Description: Managed relocation is the intentional relocation of populations of native wildlife to habitats that they do not now live in as a hedge against hypothetical changes in their current ranges. This proposed scheme has been proposed as one tactic to perhaps minimize the risk of extinctions of species owing to
changing climate (cf. Aitken and Bemmels 2016; Fordham et al. 2012; Gallagher et al. 2015; Loss et al. 2011; Vitt et al. 2009).1 This contrasts with the relocation of wildlife to locations whose habitat has been degraded or destroyed (Miller et al. 2012; Seddon et al. 2014a; Seddon et al. 2014b). Although intended to advance conservation goals, there are substantive concerns about the ethical foundation, social acceptability, ecological wisdom, and practical capacity of engaging in management relocation (Maier and Simberloff 2016; Ricciardi and Simberloff 2009a; Schwartz et al. 2012). The feasibility concerns are largely governed by limits on ecological knowledge and legal and funding constraints. Thus, although increasingly popular in concept, managed relocation will not be practical as a broadly exercised extinction mitigation strategy (Maier and Simberloff 2016).
Last Updated: June 21, 2019
Contributors:
Domain(s)/Area(S):
- Natural Resources
- Pathways
Locations: