Identifying refugia from climate change Journal
Citation: Ashcroft, M.B. 2010. Identifying refugia from climate change. Journal of Biogeography. 37. 1407-1413.
Abstract:This article highlights how the loose definition of the term ‘refugia’ has led to
discrepancies in methods used to assess the vulnerability of species to the current
trend of rising global temperatures. The term ‘refugia’ is commonly used without
distinguishing between macrorefugia and microrefugia, ex situ refugia and in situ
refugia, glacial and interglacial refugia or refugia based on habitat stability and
refugia based on climatic stability. It is not always clear which definition is being
used, and this makes it difficult to assess the appropriateness of the methods
employed. For example, it is crucial to develop accurate fine-scale climate grids
when identifying microrefugia, but coarse-scale macroclimate might be adequate
for determining macrorefugia. Similarly, identifying in situ refugia might be more
appropriate for species with poor dispersal ability but this may overestimate the
extinction risk for good dispersers. More care needs to be taken to properly define
the context when referring to refugia from climate change so that the validity of
methods and the conservation significance of refugia can be assessed.
Full PDF: Identifying refugia from climate change
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