Characteristics of climate change refugia for Australian biodiversity

Reside, April E., Welbergen, Justin A., Phillips, Ben L., Wardell-Johnson, Grant W., Keppel, Gunnar, Ferrier, Simon, Williams, Stephen E., and Vanderwal, Jeremy (2014) Characteristics of climate change refugia for Australian biodiversity. Austral Ecology, 39 (8). pp. 887-897.

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View at Publisher Website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/aec.12146
 
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Abstract

Identifying refugia is a critical component of effective conservation of biodiversity under anthropogenic climate change. However, despite a surge in conceptual and practical interest, identifying refugia remains a significant challenge across diverse continental landscapes. We provide an overview of the key properties of refugia that promote species' persistence under climate change, including their capacity to (i) buffer species from climate change; (ii) sustain long-term population viability and evolutionary processes; (iii) minimize the potential for deleterious species interactions, provided that the refugia are (iv) available and accessible to species under threat. Further, we classify refugia in terms of the environmental and biotic stressors that they provide protection from (i.e. thermal, hydric, cyclonic, pyric and biotic refugia), but ideally refugia should provide protection from a multitude of stressors. Our systematic characterization of refugia facilitates the identification of refugia in the Australian landscape. Challenges remain, however, specifically with respect to how to assess the quality of refugia at the level of individual species and whole species assemblages. It is essential that these challenges are overcome before refugia can live up to their acclaim as useful targets for conservation and management in the context of climate change.

Item ID: 33992
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1442-9993
Funders: National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF), Australian Research Council (ARC)
Projects and Grants: ARC Discovery Grant DP110104186
Date Deposited: 14 Jul 2014 01:55
FoR Codes: 06 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 0602 Ecology > 060208 Terrestrial Ecology @ 100%
SEO Codes: 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9603 Climate and Climate Change > 960301 Climate Change Adaptation Measures @ 100%
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