Southern Canada is home to many plants at the northern limits of their geographic ranges. These species are often rare and at-risk in Canada, though more broadly distributed south of the US border. While the conservation value of these peripheral populations is controversial, the ability of species to move to higher elevations and latitudes may be crucial for responding to climate warming and these peripheral populations may be particularly important for range movements. In a recently published paper, members of Chris Eckert’s lab (Queen’s University; Chris Eckert, Raeya Jackiw) and Anna Hargreaves’ lab (McGill University; Anna Hargreaves, Pascale Caissy, Sandra Klemet-N’Guessan) investigate conservation efforts and risk, as well as the distribution patterns of plants at their northernmost range limit in Canada. They ask if Canadian conservation prioritizes range-edge populations, and if conservation priorities are matched by habitat protection and research effort.
Caissy et al. find that most federally protected plants in Canada occur only at the northernmost limit of their range, and current habitat protection and research effort is inadequate for these species. The authors conclude that “…plant conservation in Canada is fundamentally linked to conserving range-edge populations, yet edge populations themselves are understudied, a research gap we must close to improve evidence-based conservation.”.
To learn more, read their article in Biological Conservation.
