Climate change experience, knowledge and management goals shape native and non-native tree species choices among European foresters

Anastazija Dimitrova, Daniella Maria Schweizer, Maria Hällfors, Jürgen Bauhus, Robert Jenni, Tobias Schulz, Katalin Csilléry 

Assisted migration (AM) is increasingly considered in forest adaptation to climate change, yet its implementation depends on how forestry practitioners evaluate concrete planting options rather than on support for the concept alone. We surveyed 743 forestry practitioners and researchers across Europe, assessing planting preferences for 30 tree species differing in geographic origin, together with respondents' demographic profiles, experiences, knowledge, and management and governance priorities. Among forestry practitioners, three dimensions were associated with species choice in distinct ways: greater experience of climate-change-related forest disturbance was associated with broader willingness to plant, whereas greater eco-evolutionary knowledge and stronger conservation-oriented management goals were associated with stronger preference for native species. Residual geographical variation remained after accounting for these characteristics, but did not follow an obvious East-West pattern. Species origin provided an additional strong structure to planting preferences: model-adjusted preference among practitioners was highest for locally native species (85.2%), intermediate for European species outside their local native range (60.7%), and lowest for non-European species (39.6%). Researchers showed stronger preference for locally native species and lower preference for non-European species than practitioners. Substantial variation nevertheless remained among individual species and geographical contexts. Favorable evaluations were typically accompanied by multiple and broadly shared perceived benefits, whereas concerns were fewer and more species-specific; invasiveness and disease susceptibility dominated, while concern about importing pests and pathogens was less frequent and showed no supported geographical variation. These findings suggest that forestry responses to AM are more nuanced, and potentially more actionable, than a simple divide between support and opposition or native and non-native species. Importantly, eco-evolutionary knowledge and management goals emerged as potentially actionable dimensions of climate-adaptive decision-making, suggesting that opportunities for professional learning and clearer consideration of management objectives may provide more effective levers for future forest choices than information provision alone.