RRC publications

june 2020 Special issue on Climate-Change Refugia in Frontiers in Ecology and the environment

*This 2020 special issue, organized by RRC’s Dr. Toni Lyn Morelli, looks at how far the field of climate change refugia has come in recent years and what research is still needed to effectively manage refugia in a changing climate. Notably, the articles in this special issue cover a diversity of refugia-related research, provide real-world examples of refugia conservation strategies, and identify ongoing research needs.

Recent Publications

Carroll, C. F., Gill, J. L., & MacKenzie, C. M. (2023). Early Holocene plant macrofossils indicate cool refugia for subalpine plant taxa in Acadia National Park, Maine. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 11, 114. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1008594

Pradhan, K., Ettinger, A. K., Case, M. J., & Lambers, J. H. R. (2023). Applying climate change refugia to forest management and old‐growth restoration. Global Change Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16714

Rosemartin, A., et al. 2023. Lessons learned in knowledge co-production for climate-smart decision-making. Environmental Science & Policy, 141, pp.178-187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2023.01.010.

Brambilla, M., et al. 2022. Identifying climate refugia for high-elevation Alpine birds under current climate warming predictions. Global Change Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16187.

Busby, C.A, Stralerg, D., Nielsen, S.E., Bayne, E. 2022. Interactions Between Fire Refugia and Climate-Environment Conditions Determine Mesic Subalpine Forest Recovery After Large and Severe Wildfires. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change. https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2022.890893.

Cartwright, J., Morelli, T.L. , Grant, E.H.. 2022. Identifying climate-resistant vernal pools: Hydrologic refugia for amphibian reproduction under droughts and climate change. Ecohydrology. https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.2354.

Chollett, I. et al. 2022. Planning for resilience: Incorporating scenario and model uncertainty and trade-offs when prioritizing management of climate refugia. Global Change Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16167.

Diggins, C.A., Ford, W.M. 2022. Seasonal activity patterns of bats in high-elevation conifer sky islands. ACTA Chiroptreologica. https://doi.org/10.3161/15081109ACC2022.24.1.007.

Estevo, C.A., Stralberg, D., Nielsen, S.E. 2022. Topographic and vegetation drivers of thermal heterogeneity along the boreal-grassland transition zone in western Canada: Implications for climate change refugia. Ecology and Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9008.

Gilbert, N. A., Anich, N. M., Worland, M., Zuckerberg, B. 2022. Microclimate complexities at the trailing edge of the boreal forest. Forest Ecology and Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2022.120533.

Gilbert, N.A., et. al. 2022. Behavioral flexibility facilitates the use of spatial and temporal refugia during variable winter weather. Behavioral Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arab154.

Green, M.D. et al. 2022. Stoneflies in the genus Lednia (Plecoptera: Nemouridae): sentinels of climate change impacts on mountain stream biodiversity. Biodiversity and Conservation. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-021-02344-y.

Hoffren, R., Miranda, H., Pizarro, M., Tejero, P., Garcia, M.B. 2022. Identifying the Factors behind Climate Diversification and Refugial Capacity in Mountain Landscapes: The Key Role of Forests. Remote Sensing. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14071708.

Isaak, D.J., et al. 2022. Do metapopulations and management matter for relict headwater bull trout populations in a warming climate? Ecological Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2594.

McLaughlin, B.C. et al. 2022. Climate change-adaptive participatory field gene banking for a California endemic oak. Restoration Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.13573.

McLaughlin, B.C. et al. 2022. Conservation strategies for the climate crisis: An update on three decades of biodiversity management recommendations from science. Biological Conservation. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109497 .

Pastore, M. A., Classen, A. T., D'Amato, A. W., Foster, J. R.; Adair, E. C. 2022. Cold-air pools as microrefugia for ecosystem functions in the face of climate change. Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3717.

Post-Leon, A.C., et al. 2022. Integration of landscape-level remote sensing and tree-level ecophysiology reveals drought refugia for a rare endemic, bigcone Douglas-fir. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change. https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2022.946728

Rojas, I.M., et. al. 2022. A landscape-scale framework to identify refugia from multiple stressors. Conservation Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13834.

Shipley, A. A., Sheriff, M. J., Pauli, J. N., Zuckerberg, B. 2022. Weather and land cover create a predictable stress-scape for a winter-adapted bird. Landscape Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-021-01354-z.

Snyder, M. N. 2022. Tough places and safe spaces: Can refuges save salmon from a warming climate? Ecosphere. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4265.

Thompson, K.L., et. al. 2022. Urban greenspaces promote warmer soil surface temperatures in a snow-covered city. Landscape and urban planning. https://doi.org/10.1016/jiandurbplan.2022.104537.

Troia, M. J., Kaz, A. L., Niemeyer, J. C., Giam, X. 2022. Species traits and reduced habitat suitability limit efficacy of climate change refugia in streams. Nature Ecology & Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01874-0.

Zhu, G., et al. 2022. Biodiversity conservation adaptation to climate change: protecting the actors or the stage. Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2765.

Rojas, I.M., et al. 2022. A landscape scale framework to identify refugia from multiple stressors. Conservation Biology, 36(1), p.e13834. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13834

Baeza, A., et al. 2021. Mapping the vulnerability of giant sequoias after extreme drought in California using remote sensing. Ecological Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2395.

Balantic, C., Adams, A., Gross, S., Mazur, R., Sawyer, S., Tucker, J., Vernon, M., Mengelt, C., Morales, J., Thorne, J. H., Brown, T. M., Athearn, N., & Morelli, T. L. (2021, July 12). Toward climate change refugia conservation at an ecoregion scale. Society for Conservation Biology. https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/csp2.497.

Brighenti, S., et al. 2021. Rock glaciers and related cold rocky landforms: Overlooked climate refugia for mountain biodiversity. Global Change Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15510

Carrasco, L., Papes, M., Sheldon, K.S., Giam, X. 2021. Global progress in incorporating climate adaptation into land protection for biodiversity since Aichi targets. Global Change Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15511.

Carroll, C., Noss, R. F. 2021. Rewilding in the face of climate change. Conservation Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13531 .

Carroll, C., Ray, J.C.. 2021. Maximizing the effectiveness of national commitments to protected area expansion for conserving biodiversity and ecosystem carbon under climate change. Global Change Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15645

Downing, W.A., Meigs, G.W., Gregory, M.J., Krawchuk, M.A. 2021. Where and why do conifer forests persist in refugia through multiple fire events? Global Change Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15655.

Godoy-Veiga, M. et al. 2021. The value of climate responses of individual trees to detect areas of climate-change refugia, a tree-ring study in the Brazilian seasonally dry tropical forests. Forest Ecology and Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2021.118971.

Maher, C.T. 2021. Alpine treeline ecotones are potential refugia for a montane pine species threatened by bark beetle outbreaks. Ecological Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2274.

Manquehual-Cheuque, F. and Somos- Valenzuela, M. 2021. Climate change refugia for glaciers in Patagonia. Anthropocene. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ancene.2020.100277.

Rivera-Burgos, A. C., Collazo, J.A., Terando, A.J., Pacifici, K. 2021. Linking demographic rates to local environmental conditions: Empirical data to support climate adaptation strategies for Eleutherodactylus frogs. Global Ecology and Conservation. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01624.

Rossetto, M. and Kooyman, R. 2021. Conserving Refugia: What Are We Protecting and Why? Diversity- Basel. https://doi.org/10.3390/d13020067.

Wilson, R. E. 2021. Implications of Historical and Contemporary Processes on Genetic Differentiation of a Declining Boreal Songbird: The Rusty Blackbird. Diversity- Basel. https://doi.org/10.3390/d13030103.

Ackerly et al. 2020. Topoclimates, refugia, and biotic responses to climate change. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2204.

Barrows et al. 2020. Responding to increased aridity: Evidence for range shifts in lizards across a 50-year time span in Joshua Tree National Park. Biological Conservation. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108667 .

Barrows et al. 2020. Validating climate change refugia: empirical bottom up approaches to support management actions. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2205

Cartwright et al. 2020. Oases of the future? Springs as potential hydrologic refugia in drying climates. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2191

Cartwright, J.M., et al. 2020. Topographic, soil, and climate drivers of drought sensitivity in forests and shrublands of the Pacific Northwest, USA. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-75273-5

Downing, WM, Johnston, JD, Krawchuk, MA, Merschel, AG, & Rausch, JH. 2020. Disjunct and decoupled? The persistence of a locally endemic, fire-sensitive conifer species in a historically frequent fire landscape. Nature Conservation. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2020.125828

Downing, WM, Krawchuk, MA, Coop, JD, Meigs, GW, Haire, SL, Walker, RB, Whitman, E, Chong, G, Miller, C, &Tortorelli, C. 2020. How do plant communities differ between fire refugia and fire-generated early-seral vegetation? Journal of Vegetation Science 31:26-39. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12814

Ebersole et al. 2020. Managing climate refugia for freshwater fishes under an expanding human footprint. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2206

Jackson (Editorial). 2020. Wave flattening and translational science. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2209.

Kato, A., Thau, D., Hudak, A. T., Meigs, G. W., Moskal, L. M. 2020. Quantifying fire trends in boreal forests with Landsat time series and self-organized criticality. Remote Sensing of Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2019.111525.

Krawchuk et al. 2020. Disturbance refugia within mosaics of forest fire, drought, and insect outbreaks. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2190

Krawchuk MA, Meigs GW, Cartwright J, et al. Disturbance refugia within mosaics of fire, drought, and insect outbreaks enable forest persistence. Front Ecol Environ. 2020; 18( 5): 235– 244, https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2190

Lawler, JJ, et al. 2020. Planning for climate change through additions to a national protected area network: implications for cost and configuration. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences. https://dio.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0117.

McLaughlin, B.C. et al. 2020. Weather underground: Subsurface hydrologic processes mediate tree vulnerability to extreme climatic drought. Global Change Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15026.

Meigs, GW, Dunn, CJ, Parks, SA, & Krawchuk, MA. 2020. Influence of topography and fuels on fire refugia probability under varying fire weather in forests of the US Pacific Northwest. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2019-0406.

Michalak et al. 2020. Combining physical and species based approaches improves refugia identification.  https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2207

Morelli et al. 2020. Climate change refugia: biodiversity in the slow lane. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2189

Ramirez, A, et al. 2020. Plant hydraulic traits reveal islands as refugia from worsening drought. Conservation Physiology. https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/coz115

Russell, M.T., et al. 2020. Legacy Effects of Hydrologic Alteration in Playa Wetland Responses to Droughts. Wetlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-020-01334-0.

Shipley, A. A., Cruz, J., Zuckerberg, B. 2020. Personality differences in the selection of dynamic refugia have demographic consequences for a winter-adapted bird. Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.0609.

Stralberg et al. 2020. Climate change refugia in boreal North America: what, where, and for how long? https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2188

Stralberg, D, Carroll, C & Nielsen, SE. 2020. Toward a climate-informed North American protected areas network: Incorporating climate-change refugia and corridors in conservation planning. Conservation Letters. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12712

Thorne et al. 2020. Vegetation refugia can inform climate adaptive land management under global warming. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2208

Coop, JD, DeLorty, TJ, Downing, WM, Haire, SL, Krawchuk, MA, Miller, C, Parisien, M-A, & Walker, RB. 2019. Contributions of fire refugia to resilient ponderosa pine and dry mixed-conifer forest landscapes. Ecosphere 10(7) https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2809

Downing, WM, Krawchuk, MA, Meigs, GW, Haire, SL, Coop, JD, Walker, RB, Whitman, E, Chong, G, & Miller, C. 2019. Influence of fire refugia spatial pattern on post-fire forest recovery in Oregon's Blue Mountains. Landscape Ecology 34: 771-792  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-019-00802-1

Walker, RB, Coop, JD, Downing, WM, Krawchuk, MA, Meigs, GW, Haire, SL, & Malone, SL. 2019. How much forest persists through fire? Abundance and distribution of forested wildfire refugia across mosaics of burn severity. Forests 10(9),782 https://doi.org/10.3390/f10090782

Cartwright, J. 2018. Landscape topoedaphic features create refugia from drought and insect disturbance in a lodgepole and whitebark pine forest. Forests, 9(11), 715. https://doi.org/10.3390/f9110715

Cartwright, J, & Johnson, HM. 2018. Springs as hydrologic refugia in a changing climate? A remote-sensing approach. Ecosphere, 9(3), e02155. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2155

Gonzalez, P, Wang, F, Notaro, M, Vimont, DJ & Williams, JW. 2018. Disproportionate magnitude of climate change in United States national parks. Environmental Research Letters 13 (2018) 104001 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aade09

Keeley ATH, Basson G, Cameron DR, et al. 2018. Making habitat connectivity a reality. Conserv Biol 32: 1221–32. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13158

Meddens, AJH, Kolden, CA, Lutz, JA, Smith, AMS, Cansler, CA, Abatzoglou, JT, Meigs, GW, Downing, WM, & Krawchuk, MA. 2018. Fire Refugia: What Are They, and Why Do They Matter for Global Change? BioScience, 68(12), https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biy103

Meigs, G, and Krawchuk, MA. 2018. Composition and structure of forest fire refugia: what are the ecosystem legacies across burned landscapes. Forests 2018, 9(5), 243;https://doi.org/10.3390/f9050243

Michalak JL, Lawler JJ, Roberts DR, and Carroll C. 2018. Distribution and protection of climatic refugia in North America. Conserv Biol 32: 1414–25. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13130

Reside AE, Butt N, & Adams VM. 2018. Adapting systematic conservation planning for climate change. Biodivers Conserv 27: 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-017-1442-5

Stralberg, D, Carroll, C, Pedlar, JH, Wilsey, CB, McKenney, DW & Nielsen, SE. 2018. Macrorefugia for North American trees and songbirds: Climatic limiting factors and multi scale topographic influences. Global Ecology and Biogeography 27:690-703. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12731

Carroll C, Roberts DR, Michalak JL, et al. 2017. Scale-dependent complementarity of climatic velocity and environmental diversity for identifying priority areas for conservation under climate change. Glob Chang Biol 23: 4508–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13679

Enquist CAF, Jackson ST, Garfin GM, et al. 2017. Foundations of translational ecology. Front Ecol Environ 15: 541–50. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.1733

Harrison S & Noss R. 2017. Endemism hotspots are linked to stable climatic refugia. Ann Bot 119: 207–14. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcw248

Maher, SP, Morelli, TL, Hershey, M, Flint, AL, Flint, LE, Moritz, C, & Beissinger, SR. 2017. Erosion of refugia in the Sierra Nevada meadows network with climate change. Ecosphere, 8(4), e01673. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1673

McLaughlin BC, Ackerly DD, Klos PZ, et al. 2017. Hydrologic refugia, plants, and climate change. Glob Chang Biol 23: 2941–61. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13629

Mokany K, Jordan GJ, Harwood TD, et al. 2017. Past, present and future refugia for Tasmania’s palaeoendemic flora. J Biogeogr 44: 1537–46. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.12927

Morelli TL, Maher S, Lim MCW, et al. 2017. Climate Change Refugia and Habitat Connectivity Promote Species Persistence. Clim Chang Responses. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40665-017-0036-5

Krawchuk MA, Haire SL, Coop J, Parisien M-A, Whitman E, Chong G, Miller C. 2016. Topographic and fire weather controls of fire refugia in forested ecosystems of northwestern North America. Ecosphere 7:12. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1632

Morelli TL, Daly C, Dobrowski SZ, et al. 2016. Managing climate change refugia for climate adaptation. PLoS One 11. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0159909

Isaak DJ, Young MK, Nagel DE, et al. 2015. The cold-water climate shield: delineating refugia for preserving salmonid fishes through the 21st century. Global Change Biol 21. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12879

Keppel G, Mokany K, Wardell-Johnson GW, et al. 2015. The capacity of refugia for conservation planning under climate change. Front Ecol Environ 13: 106–12. https://doi.org/10.1890/140055

Kurylyk BL, MacQuarrie KT, Linnansaari T, et al. 2015. Preserving, augmenting, and creating cold water thermal refugia in rivers: concepts derived from research on the Miramichi River, New Brunswick (Canada). Ecohydrol 8: 1095-1108. https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.1566

Millar CI &Stephenson NL. 2015. Temperate forest health in an era of emerging megadisturbance. Science (80- ) 349: 823 LP – 826. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaa9933

Murphy N, Guzik M, Cooper S, & Austin A. 2015. Desert spring refugia: museums of diversity or evolutionary cradles? Zool Scr 44: 693-701. https://doi.org/10.1111/zsc.12129

Stralberg, D, Bayne, EM, Cumming, SG, Sólymos, P, Song, SJ & Schmiegelow, FKA. 2015. Conservation of future boreal forest bird communities considering lags in vegetation response to climate change: a modified refugia approach. Diversity and Distributions 21:1112-1128. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12356

Hannah L, Flint L, Syphard AD, et al. 2014. Fine-grain modeling of species’ response to climate change: Holdouts, stepping-stones, and microrefugia. Trends Ecol Evol 29: 390–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2014.04.006

Annan, JD, & Hargreaves, JC. 2013. A new global reconstruction of temperature changes at the last glacial maximum. Climate of the Past, 9(1), 367–376. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-367-2013

Davis J, Pavlova A, Thompson R, & Sunnucks P. 2013. Evolutionary refugia and ecological refuges: key concepts for conserving Australian arid zone freshwater biodiversity under climate change. Glob Chang Biol 19: 1970–84. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12203

Stein BA, Staudt A, Cross MS, et al. 2013. Preparing for and managing change: climate adaptation for biodiversity and ecosystems. Front Ecol Environ 11: 502–10. https://doi.org/10.1890/120277

Keppel G, Niel KP Van, Wardell-Johnson GW, et al. 2012. Refugia: Identifying and understanding safe havens for biodiversity under climate change. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 21: 393–404. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2011.00686.x

Morelli TL, Smith AB, Kastely CR, et al. 2012. Anthropogenic refugia ameliorate the severe climate-related decline of a montane mammal along its trailing edge. Proc R Soc B Biol Sci 279: 4279–86. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.1301

Dobrowski SZ. 2011. A climatic basis for microrefugia: the influence of terrain on climate. Glob Chang Biol 17: 1022–35. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02263.x

Sandel B, Arge L, Dalsgaard B, et al. 2011. The Influence of Late Quaternary Climate-Change Velocity on Species Endemism. Science (80- ) 334: 660 LP – 664. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1210173

Ashcroft, MB. 2010. Identifying refugia from climate change. Journal of Biogeography, 37, 1407–1413. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2010.02300.x

Heller NE and Zavaleta ES. 2009. Biodiversity management in the face of climate change: A review of 22 years of recommendations. Biol Conserv 142: 14–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2008.10.006

Hobbs RJ, Higgs E, & Harris JA. 2009. Novel ecosystems: implications for conservation and restoration. Trends Ecol Evol 24: 599–605. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2009.05.012

Lawler JJ. 2009. Climate Change Adaptation Strategies for Resource Management and Conservation Planning. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1162: 79–98. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04147.x

Loarie SR, Duffy PB, Hamilton H, et al. 2009. The velocity of climate change. Nature 462: 1052. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08649

Thuiller, W, Albert, C, Araujo, MB, Berry, PM, Cabeza, M, Guisan, A, Hickler, T, Midgley, GF, Paterson, J, Schurr, FM & Sykes, MT. 2008. Predicting global change impacts on plant species’ distributions: future challenges. Perspectives in plant ecology, evolution and systematics, 9(3-4), pp.137-152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppees.2007.09.004

Millar CI, Stephenson NL, and Stephens SL. 2007. Climate change and forests of the future: Managing in the face of uncertainty. Ecol Appl 17: 2145–51. https://doi.org/10.1890/06-1715.1

Opdam P & Wascher D. 2004. Climate change meets habitat fragmentation: linking landscape and biogeographical scale levels in research and conservation. Biol Conserv 117: 285–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2003.12.008

Nekola, JC. 1999. Paleorefugia and neorefugia: the influence of colonization history on community pattern and process. Ecology, 80(8), 2459–2473. https://doi.org/10.1890/0012-9658(1999)080[2459:PANTIO]2.0.CO;2