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38 CLIMATE CHANGE ALBERTAS BIODIVERSITY Rare Range-restricted Plants Experimental translocations demonstrate that suitable climatic conditions for the Northern Blazing Star a rare plant in Albertaalreadyoccurmuchfurthernorth than the species current distribution providing support for assisted migration as a potentially effective management response to climate change. JenninePedersenandcolleagues2014have beenundertakingtransplantationexperiments withtheNorthernBlazingStararareplant occurringincentralAlbertatodeterminethe speciesvulnerabilitytoclimatechangeand whetherassistedmigrationcouldbeafeasible conservationresponse.34 Northern Blazing Star has been transplanted to two areas north and one location south of its current range in central Alberta Fig. 8. In addition plants were transplanted to two control locations within the species current range. In summer 2014 seeds planted at the more northern locations showed significantly better seed emergence rates than at the control and southern locations suggesting that the optimal climatic conditions for the species may already have shifted northwards. The survival of adult plants and emergence of seedlings outside the current range of Northern Blazing Star also suggests that assisted migra- tion would be a viable conservation tool for this species provided that adult plants are able to reproduce successfully at the northern sites. Initial experiments are now underway with a second rare plant Long-leaved Bluets. 34 Learn more by watching Blazing Ahead of Climate Change at httpwww.biodiversityandclimate.abmi.caresourcesvideos FIGURE 8. Totesttheeffectivenessof assistedmigrationadult plantsandseedsofthe NorthernBlazingStar weremovednorthtoareas projectedtohavesuitable futureclimates. Transloca- tionstothesouthwereused totestthesensitivityofthe speciestothehotteranddrier conditionsexpectedtooccur inthefutureatcurrently occupiedlocations. Pedersenetal.2014. NATURAL REGION 0 100 N 200 400 600 800 Km Control Climate Treatment Northern Blazing Star Range Boreal Canadian Shield Foothills Grassland Parkland Rocky Mountain