Ecological classification can help with assisted plant migration in forestry, nature conservation, and landscape planning

Rapidly changing environmental conditions, especially climate warming, are triggering tree species migration. Some species are expanding their range, others are limited in their ability to spread to a more suitable climate because the rate of climate change is faster than rates of dispersal and/or because of physical barriers, e.g., mountain ranges. Assisted migration is assumed to decrease the typically long period needed for natural migration of plant species. In this article, we summarize the ecological classification approach, its implications and demonstrated uses, to minimize risks, uncertainty and hazard associated with assisted migration. Ecological classifications represent long-term, high-quality information at multi-spatial, timely, and functional scales. The primary source of their value is in understanding the nature of vegetation dynamics. We highlight the potential application of that traditional information represented by ecological classifications and suggest its linkage with recent important concepts, strategies, and procedures to plant migration, including technical fields such as remote sensing and climate modeling. To do this, we present a conceptual diagram that combines the current knowledge of habitat conditions with a historic baseline of vegetation distribution and should be useful for assisted plant migration in sustainable forest management, nature conservation, and landscape planning.