Is transplanting an effective means of preserving vegetation?

Abstract

Transplantation to new locations is used widely to propagate horticultural and agricultural species but is also promoted as a means of relocating whole communities that stand in the way of development. It may be used as well to move vegetation from the field for experimentation under controlled conditions. Transplantation has not in the past been considered a reliable means of conserving threatened species or reproducing functional characteristics of natural communities, and has been regarded by many as highly ineffective. However, its potential must now be re-examined because of the many recent transplant attempts as well as advances in related fields. Recent trials illustrate that individual endangered species are still particularly difficult to transplant and displaced multi-species sods are almost always changed in the process. Exact reconstruction of communities from individual components is next to impossible because the full complement of species, including critical microbial components, is almost never known. Owing to a limited understanding of phenology, reproduction, functional roles, and interrelationships among constituent microbes, cryptogams, vascular plants, and fauna, transplants may be placed into sites with both biological and physical insufficiencies. Genetic diversity may be lost or, if genotypes from diverse sources are mixed, outbreeding depression may result. Recent advances in soil science, microbial ecology, and population genetics have in some cases improved the effectiveness of transplantation, but new insights mainly permit a fuller appreciation of the causes of failure. Home-site advantage has been demonstrated, and habitat protection appears to be the best and perhaps only reliable way of preserving intact natural communities and rare species. Furthermore, experimentation with vegetational mats under controlled conditions may have little relevance to natural ecosystems.