Considered an essential conservation tool, reintroductions have been conducted for many of the world’s rarest plant species. The expertise and knowledge gained through these efforts constitute an essential storehouse of information for conservationists faced with a rapidly changing global climate.

Joyce Maschinski and Kristin Haskins have compiled this knowledge in the new book Plant Reintroduction in a Changing Climate: Promises and Perils. Informed by two decades of plant reintroduction efforts, including those documented in the online International Reintroduction Registry, and drawing on presentations and discussions at the 2009 international symposium “Evaluating Plant Reintroductions as a Plant Conservation Strategy: Two Decades of Evidence,” this book is a comprehensive and accessible reference for practitioners to use in planning and executing rare plant reintroductions.

This volume presents a comprehensive review of reintroduction projects and practices, the circumstances of their successes or failures, lessons learned, and the potential role for reintroductions in preserving species threatened by climate change. Contributors examine current plant reintroduction practices, from selecting appropriate source material and recipient sites to assessing population demography.

Traditional reintroduction practice can inform managed relocation—the deliberate movement of species outside their native range in response to climate change—which may be the only hope for some species to persist in a natural environment. Included in the book are discussions of the history, fears, and controversy regarding managed relocation, along with protocols for evaluating invasive risk and proposals for conducting managed relocation of rare plants.

Plant Reintroduction in a Changing Climate culminates in a set of Best Reintroduction Practice Guidelines, included in an appendix. These guidelines cover stages from planning and implementation to long-term monitoring, and offer not only recommended actions but also checklists of questions to consider that are applicable to projects around the world.


Joyce Maschinski is the conservation ecologist leading the South Florida conservation program at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Kristin E. Haskins is the director of research at The Arboretum at Flagstaff and a research assistant professor Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona.