Final Report: Identifying and Evaluating Refugia from Drought and Climate Change in the Pacific Northwest
Dates
Date Reported
2018-09-07
Citation
Jennifer M Cartwright, Josh Lawler, and Julia Michalak, Final Report: Identifying and Evaluating Refugia from Drought and Climate Change in the Pacific Northwest: .
Summary
As the Earth’s climate changed in the ancient past, many species moved across the landscape to track adequate environmental conditions. Some species took shelter in remaining pockets of suitable climates, referred to as refugia. For example, refugia harbored species when vast glaciers covered much of the land, allowing them to survive and migrate again across the landscape as temperatures warmed and ice melted. Modern changes in climate are similarly compelling species to move, and some of those species may seek shelter from increasingly hostile conditions in refugia. Modern climate refugia will likely take many different forms. For example, larger-scale macrorefugia may be areas of relative climate stability that can harbor large [...]
Summary
As the Earth’s climate changed in the ancient past, many species moved across the landscape to track adequate environmental conditions. Some species took shelter in remaining pockets of suitable climates, referred to as refugia. For example, refugia harbored species when vast glaciers covered much of the land, allowing them to survive and migrate again across the landscape as temperatures warmed and ice melted. Modern changes in climate are similarly compelling species to move, and some of those species may seek shelter from increasingly hostile conditions in refugia. Modern climate refugia will likely take many different forms. For example, larger-scale macrorefugia may be areas of relative climate stability that can harbor large numbers of species and will likely play a key role in conserving biodiversity as the climate changes. Microrefugia that cover much smaller areas may provide moisture for certain species in times of drought or protection from fire that burns the surrounding landscape. In this project, we mapped, explored, and compared several different types of refugia, both small and large. This included microrefugia from drought in the face of reduced snowpack and drought-induced insect outbreaks, as well as macrorefugia identified by projecting the future locations of today’s climate conditions.
