Translocation strategies for multiple species depend on interspecific interaction type

Conservation translocations – anthropogenic movements of species to prevent their extinction – have increased substantially over the last few decades. Although multiple species are frequently moved to the same location, current translocation guidelines consider species in isolation. This practice ignores important interspecific interactions, and thereby risks translocation failure. We model three different two-species systems to illustrate the inherent complexity of multi-species translocations, and to assess the influence of different interaction types (consumer-resource, mutualism, and competition) on translocation strategies. We focus on how these different interaction types influence the optimal founder population sizes for successful translocations, and the order in which the species are moved (simultaneous or sequential). Further, we assess the effect of interaction strength in simultaneous translocations, and the time delay between translocations when moving two species sequentia...