January 2026 SpECIAL ISSUE ON CLIMATE-CHANGE Refugia conservation

in cONSERVATION SCIENCE AND PRACTICE

In December 2025, the RRC released a special issue on Climate-Change Refugia Conservation in Conservation Science and Practice, led by RRCrs Dr. Toni Lyn Morelli, Dr. Tina Mozelewski, and Diana Stralberg, tracing how refugia science and practice has evolved from a compelling concept to a practical framework for climate adaptation. The articles in this collection move from theory to implementation, demonstrating how refugia can be identified, managed, and connected across landscapes to sustain species, disturbance regimes, and ecosystem functions over time. The articles in this collection refine the Climate Change Refugia Conservation Cycle, and follow up on the 2020 Frontiers in Ecology & the Environmental special issue. It provides practical guidance for integrating climatic capacity and refugia into landscape planning, and links modeling and decision science to implementation from the Sierra Nevada and Pacific Northwest and British Columbia, through the eastern U.S., to Poland and Tanzania and Australia. This advances tools, case studies, and decision frameworks that can help managers and practitioners enact effective climate adaptation. Taken together, the full set of articles showcases the diversity of methods, ecosystems, and governance contexts now shaping climate-change refugia science and outlines concrete research, planning, and implementation priorities for the next generation of climate adaptation work.  

PLANNED Publications

Implementing Climate-Change Refugia Conservation by Morelli, T.L., Mozelewski, T.G., & Stralberg, D.

Conserving Climate-Change Refugia: Insights from Research and Practice by Morelli, T.L./Mozelewski, T.G., et al. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.70160

Using in situ microrefugia to safeguard stringybark eucalypts from hot droughts by Bentze, C., et al. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.70093

Climate Change Refugia Hotspots for Priority Species: A Case Study in East Africa by Cavalieri, C.N., et al. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.70178

A Network of Refugia: Whooping Crane Drought Response Informs International Habitat Conservation Goals by Caven, A.J, Pearse, A.T. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.70106

Finding climate refugia on the U.S. National Wildlife Refuge System: A focus on strategic growth values by Dreiss, L.M., Rice, M.B. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.70069

Elevation-mediated cold water refugia in subalpine lakes by Dykema, S., et al. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.70175

The potential role of anthropogenic refugia in wildlife conservation during wildfires by Hohwieler, K., et al. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.70200

Identifying Climate-Change Refugia for Species Management and Conservation in the Pacific Northwest by John, A., et al. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.70174

A climate-adapted refugia framework for enhancing ecosystem resilience: actionable science for forest management in southern California by Jennings. M.K., et al. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.70114

Stability and Connection: Climate-Informed Modernized Land Use Planning on the South Coast of British Columbia by Kehm, G., Houde, I., Stolar, J. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.70125

Fire refugia in forest ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest, USA: Science and applications for conservation, adaptation, and stewardship by Krawchuk, M.A., et al. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.70173

Integrating refugia modeling and decision science to support climate-adaptive conservation in the Sierra Nevada by Mozelewski, T.G., et al. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.70170

Climate Change Refugia Implementation: Testing, Active Management, and Regional Planning by Nadeau, C.P., et al. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.70159

Refugia or at risk? Alpine snowbank communities in the face of climate change by Phillips, K.B.B., et al. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.70079

Peatlands in Central Europe as Climate Change Refugia: Mechanisms, Management, and the Role of Microclimate by Słowińska, S., et al. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.70172

Integrating Climate Capacity and Refugia into Landscape Planning: A Practical Guide by Stralberg, D., et al. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.70171

Multi-Scale Approaches to Identifying and Managing Climate Change Refugia in Grassland Ecosystems by Zuckerberg, B., Bernath-Plaisted, J.S., & W. A. Boyle. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.70168