Introduce species or genotypes that are expected to be adapted to future conditions

Transitioning to a better-adapted system in order to maintain carbon sequestration capacity may involve the active introduction of species or genotypes to areas that they have not historically occupied, often described as assisted migration, assisted colonization, or managed relocation (Schwartz et al. 2012). One type of assisted migration, sometimes called forestry-assisted migration, focuses on moving species to new locations in order to maintain forest productivity and health under climate change (Pedlar et al. 2012). Given the uncertainty about specific climate conditions in the future, relocating species with a broad range of tolerances (e.g., temperature, moisture) from across a wide geographic range may be more successful. Moving species to new habitats within their current range or over relatively short distances outside their current range, and focusing on widespread species for which much is known about their life history traits, may be considered relatively low risk (Pedlar et al. 2012). However, there are still risks associated with moving any species, such as introducing new pests or diseases, the potential for hybridization with other closely related species, and genetic bottlenecks if the introduced seed source is not adequately diverse (Aubin et al. 2011).

Land managers already work in many ways to increase forest productivity through enhancing structural heterogeneity and species diversity (Franklin et al. 2007). As an adaptation strategy for managing forest carbon, this general goal receives added effort and focus when managing systems whose current characteristics limit the ability of the forest to sequester carbon or increase the risk of carbon losses through disturbance under a changing climate (Fahey et al. 2018; Nagel et al. 2017). This strategy is focuses on altering the characteristics of a forest through intentional alterations of species composition and structure so the desired future conditions of the forest are significantly changed from current conditions (Millar et al. 2007; Swanston et al. 2016). These changes may be necessary in order to create ecosystems that are better adapted to the range of expected future conditions, thereby maintaining desired ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration and storage and reducing the risk of carbon loss from disturbance.