Context‐dependent decision‐making in seed sourcing for restoration: reply to Beck et al. (2025)

Determining the best seed sources for restoration can be a challenge for practitioners, especially under climate change. The number of variables and the spectrum of potential solutions can be daunting. No singular seed sourcing strategy, “local‐is‐best” or otherwise, is appropriate for all species and restoration efforts. Here we argue that the choice of strategy must be context‐dependent. Species variation in life history, demographics, and genetics influences the extent and drivers of local adaptation, as well as the capacity to adapt to rapid change. Proposed alternative strategies to traditional local sourcing offer a broader range of options to better fit the diversity of species and restoration goals. Although evidence is still somewhat lacking for these new strategies due to the relatively recent impacts of climate change, restoration programs offer an opportunity as experiments to evaluate the risks and benefits of different sourcing strategies. The most proactive response in the face of unprecedented change is to move away from a “one‐size‐fits‐all” approach toward a considered and informed choice of seed source strategy.