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Climate change is leading to global increases in extreme events, such as drought, that threaten the persistence of freshwater biodiversity. Identification and management of drought refuges, areas that promote resistance and resilience to drought, will be critical for preserving and recovering aquatic biodiversity in the face of climate change and increasing human water use. Although several reviews have addressed the effects of droughts and highlighted the role of refuges, a need remains on how to identify functional refuges that can be used in a drought management framework to support fish assemblages. We synthesize literature on drought refuges and propose a framework to identify and manage functional refuges that incorporate species physiological tolerances, behaviours and life‐history strategies. Stream pools, perennial reaches and off‐channel habitat were identified as important drought refuges for fish. The ability of refuges to improve species resistance and resilience to drought requires careful consideration of the biology of the target species and targeted management to promote persistence, quality and connectivity of refuges. Case studies illustrate that management of drought refuges can be challenging because of competing demands for water, incomplete knowledge of ecological requirements for target species and the increasing occurrence of multi‐year droughts. Climate adaptation is increasingly important, and drought refuges can increase fish resistance and resilience to climate‐related drought across the riverscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genus Arvicola has a wide palearctic distribution and present two ecological forms – terrestrial and aquatic – characterizing the genus. In Europe two species are present: the most widespread, A. amphibius and A. italicus , endemic to Italy. The aim of the study was to describe the genetic structure and variability in A. italicus and the genetic identity of populations in northeast Italy, an area of biogeographic importance as contact zone for small mammal species. Thirty-six Italian water voles, displaced in population from south to north of Italy, were analysed by two mitochondrial markers and 8 autosomal microsatellite loci. The phylogenetic analysis on the genus confirmed the presence of major groups mostly corresponding to the species and clades already described. About the Italian specimens, the individuals from one population in northeastern Italy resulted included in A. amphibius revealing the presence of this species in Italy and, in consequence, the possible presence of a putative contact zone between A. italicus and A. amphibius in the northeast. The phylogeny includes a second population from northeast Italy within A. amphibius , but in basal position and with a low support. The values of divergence of this lineage from A. italicus and A. amphibius lie on the threshold between intraspecific and interspecific divergence. Conversely, microsatellite data support a clear distinction between A. amphibius and A. italicus and includes the ambiguous mitochondrial lineage in this latter species. Furthermore, this northeastern population shows evidence of admixture of nuclear loci with the southcentral A. italicus populations, supporting the attribution of these specimens to A. italicus. This pattern could suggest that A. italicus in northeast Italy retained an ancestral haplotype and undergone a long period of isolation respect to the southern populations, without genetic exchange until recent times. Within A. italicus , the admixture shows northern population as the most differentiated showing limited evidence of admixture with the most diverse southcentral. The intraspecific diversity decreases from south to north as expected for an endemic small mammal in Italy. Finally, the low genetic diversity observed in the northern population can be challenging for a species as Arvicola living in fragmented habitats and susceptible to habitat loss; consequently, became important identifying suitable conservation measures for this barely known endemic small mammal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Refugia or refuges are a concept that can contribute to an understanding of survival in the Anthropocene at different levels of abstraction. • Urban green spaces are areas where interactions between human and non-human nature can occur. They serve as refuges in the city and can be beneficial for both biodiversity and human well-being. • Over 70 % of the reviewed studies report positive effects of unmown refuges on arthropod abundance and richness in meadows or green spaces. • Unmown refuges allow habitat heterogeneity, a shelter for surviving arthropods from mowing, a chance for larval development, and a place to hibernate. Large refugia and small refuges have always been crucial for species survival, particularly during periods like the Ice Age. When their original habitats became uninhabitable, they provided important shelters in space and time. Drawing from a biological and philosophical perspective, we propose creating and preserving refuges as socio-ecological solutions in an epoch primarily shaped by human activity, the Anthropocene. Our focus lies on green refuges within urban settings, given that urbanization is one of the large drivers of insect decline and has adverse effects on humans, such as increased heat. Refuges can be beneficial for both biodiversity and human well-being. After clarifying the relevant terminology on four levels of abstraction, we conducted a systematic biological literature review - as a case study. Here, we summarize the current state of research on the effects of unmown refuges on insects and spiders. The mere existence of refuges proved beneficial for arthropods, with over 70 % of studies reporting positive responses among these species. While insects and spiders have specific habitat requirements, humans are able to create a habitable environment for themselves. However, ecological crises for humans and arthropods are increasing, as are human populations. Therefore, refuges offer a way to address both ecological and social challenges simultaneously, enhancing biodiversity and human well-being. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Arctic plants survived the Pleistocene glaciations in unglaciated refugia. The number, ages, and locations of these refugia are often unclear. We use high‐resolution genomic data from present‐day and Little‐Ice‐Age populations of Arctic Bell‐Heather to re‐evaluate the biogeography of this species and determine whether it had multiple independent refugia or a single refugium in Beringia. Location: Circumpolar Arctic and Coastal British Columbia (BC) alpine. Taxon: Cassiope tetragona L., subspecies saximontana and tetragona, outgroup C. mertensiana (Ericaceae). Methods: We built genotyping‐by‐sequencing (GBS) libraries using Cassiope tetragona tissue from 36 Arctic locations, including two ~250‐ to 500‐year‐old populations collected under glacial ice on Ellesmere Island, Canada. We assembled a de novo GBS reference to call variants. Population structure, genetic diversity and demography were inferred from PCA, ADMIXTURE, fastsimcoal2, SplitsTree, and several population genomics statistics. Results: Population structure analyses identified 4–5 clusters that align with geographic locations. Nucleotide diversity was highest in Beringia and decreased eastwards across Canada. Demographic coalescent analyses dated the following splits with Alaska: BC subspecies saximontana (5 mya), Russia (~1.4 mya), Europe (>200–600 kya), and Greenland (~60 kya). Northern Canada populations appear to have formed during the current interglacial (7–9 kya). Admixture analyses show genetic variants from Alaska appear more frequently in present‐day than historic plants on Ellesmere Island. Conclusions: Population and demographic analyses support BC, Alaska, Russia, Europe and Greenland as all having had independent Pleistocene refugia. Northern Canadian populations appear to be founded during the current interglacial with genetic contributions from Alaska, Europe and Greenland. We found evidence, on Ellesmere Island, for continued recent gene flow in the last 250–500 years. These results suggest that a re‐analysis of other Arctic species with shallow population structure using higher resolution genomic markers and demographic analyses may help reveal deeper structure and other circumpolar glacial refugia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A species' demographic history gives important context to contemporary population genetics and a possible insight into past responses to climate change; with an individual's genome providing a window into the evolutionary history of contemporary populations. Pairwise sequentially Markovian coalescent (PSMC) analysis uses information from a single genome to derive fluctuations in effective population size change over the last ~5 million years. Here, we apply PSMC analysis to two European nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus) genomes, sampled in Northwest and Southern Europe, with the aim of revealing the demographic history of nightjar in Europe. We successfully reconstructed effective population size over the last 5 million years. Our analysis shows that in response to global climate change, the effective population size of nightjar broadly increased under stable warm periods and decreased during cooler spans and prolonged glacial periods. PSMC analysis on the pseudo‐diploid combination of the two genomes revealed fluctuations in gene flow between ancestral populations over time, with gene flow ceasing by the last‐glacial period. Our results are tentatively suggestive of divergence in the European nightjar population, with timings consistent with differentiation being driven by restriction to different refugia during periods of glaciation. Finally, our results suggest that migratory behaviour in nightjar likely evolved prior to the last‐glacial period, with long‐distance migration seemingly persisting throughout the Pleistocene. However, further genetic structure analysis of individuals from known breeding sites across the species' contemporary range is needed to understand the extent and origins of range‐wide differentiation in nightjar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Societal Impact Statement Summary Highland forests of Mozambique have been strongly modified by human activities for millennia. Some highlands have sheer rock cliffs and are highly inaccessible to people and appear relatively undisturbed. Evidence from the forest and soils of inaccessible Mount Lico show that the fire regime has changed over the recent millennia. As climate and fire regimes continue to change, management of highland ecosystems will be crucial to sustain the high biodiversity and mountain‐water resources that provide key ecosystem services to people living close to these forests. The sheer rock cliffs of the Mount Lico inselberg, northern Mozambique, is relatively inaccessible to people. A 0.57 km2 forest covers the top of the isolated mountain, and the tree demographics and soil offer an opportunity to investigate the long‐term fire ecology of the forests of the western, leeside of the mountain and potential for changing regional hydroclimate of the Late Holocene. On the western side of the mountaintop, a 20 × 20 m plot was surveyed for tree taxa, heights and bole diameters. A 220 cm deep pit was dug into the forest soil and analysed to describe the soil texture and carbon content. Charcoal was quantified on sieved subsamples and classified into charcoal morphologies that were then grouped by how readily entrainable on an index score. Three radiocarbon dates were collected from pieces charcoal. The forest is a combination of montane and woodland tree taxa that differed from the older, more mesic eastern side and reflected differential disturbance patterns. The reddish loam soils dated to the Middle Holocene. Charcoal was present in all soil subsamples and varied little until increasing consistently during the past millennium. The charcoal morphologies suggested a combination of locally derived charcoal and charcoal derived from the surrounding lowlands with the latter increasing in the past centuries. Few Holocene paleoenvironmental records have been developed from tropical soils in Africa and are useful in locations that do not host lakes and wetlands. Both tree demographics and soil charcoal suggest that changing forest disturbance regimes began during the past millennium. An understanding of history informs future conservation and appropriate management of these special places. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated population genetics of the native tree species Acer velutinum Boiss., Fagus orientalis Lipsky, and Quercus castaneifolia C.A. Mey. in the Hyrcanian forests of northern Iran and also F. orientalis populations in the Euro-Siberian and Colchic subregions of northern Türkiye. We used the double-digest RADseq method and genotyped 90 populations and 1,589 individuals across the distribution range of the species. Genome-wide SNPs from 28 populations of A. velutinum, 32 populations of F. orientalis, and 30 Q. castaneifolia revealed higher genetic differentiation among A. velutinum populations than among F. orientalis and Q. castaneifolia. The global FST value was lowest for F. orientalis populations and highest for A. velutinum populations, while the global FIS value was negative for A. velutinum. Demographic history analysis revealed a bottleneck during the last glacial period (11,500—115,000 Kya) for the A. velutinum populations with reduced effective population size (Ne). All three species show multiple bottlenecks and reduced Ne during the Quaternary. Pronounced genetic divergence among A. velutinum populations in the Hyrcanian forests compared to the other two species suggests cryptic speciation. Conversely, F. orientalis and Q. castaneifolia populations showed low levels of genetic structure, suggesting that species-specific factors, such as pollen production and pollination efficiency, may have influenced the genetic patterns within these species in similar environments. The nucleotide diversity of F. orientalis populations in Iran is negatively correlated with altitude (p = 0.046). In contrast, A. velutinum populations show a significant correlation between nucleotide diversity and longitude (p = 0.008). Furthermore, the F. orientalis populations from Türkiye showed a distinct west–east genetic structure and were highly diverged from the Iranian F. orientalis populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is set to become one of the leading causes of biodiversity loss worldwide, with extreme weather events projected to increase in frequency. Ectothermic animals such as insects are at particular risk, especially when they are isolated and unable to move through the landscape to track suitable climate. To protect such taxa, it is important to understand how they are impacted by extreme weather events and whether management could provide effective microclimate refuges. However, potential management interventions remain untested for many species. Here, we show that the extreme high temperatures experienced in the UK on 19th July 2022 resulted in a community of butterflies becoming inactive, but that shaded areas, including artificial slopes created as part of conservation management for climate change, provided a refuge during this period. Our results indicate that future high temperatures could force butterflies to shelter in the shade, potentially being unable to fly, feed or mate during these periods, with possible long-term impacts, particularly if multiple consecutive high temperature days are experienced. Implications for Insect Conservation: Producing artificial slopes and integrating patches of scrub within grassland could create an array of microclimates that allow butterflies and other invertebrates to thermoregulate, providing a refuge during extreme weather events. Our findings highlight the dramatic effect of extreme temperatures on insect communities, as well as simple management solutions that could be implemented widely and relatively easily by conservation managers, to counter some of the negative impacts of rising temperatures and extreme weather events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Various species distributed in the Alps have their disjunct occurrences in the Carpathians. Fossil evidence for some woodland snails of Alpine distribution suggests that they colonized the Carpathians during the Holocene forest optimum or later. Here, we focus on disjunct Carpathian populations of the rock‐dwelling alpine snail Pyramidula saxatilis. As it occupies very stable habitats, that is, high‐elevation limestone rocks, one can assume its potential survival in Carpathian refugia over the glacial period(s). For comparison, the more widespread and warm‐climate P. pusilla is analysed. Location: Europe. Taxon: Pyramidula saxatilis and P. pusilla. Methods: We analysed the genetic diversity of P. saxatilis and P. pusilla populations across their entire ranges using mitochondrial DNA and nuclear DNA markers. Seven fossil mollusc successions from the area where P. saxatilis occurs in the Carpathians were analysed and dated using the radiocarbon method. Habitat suitability models of both species were calculated for selected time periods since the Last Glacial Maximum. Results: All Carpathian P. saxatilis populations were genetically homogeneous and similar to those from the Eastern Alps. In P. pusilla, we found a genetically distinct lineage in the southern Western Carpathians. Both species were found in three fossil profiles since the Middle Holocene, and in one already in the Late Glacial. Habitat suitability models suggested the fluctuations of suitable conditions in the Carpathians driven by summer precipitation, especially for P. saxatilis. Main Conclusions: Our results suggest that the Carpathian populations of P. saxatilis represent a post‐LGM colonization from the Eastern Alps triggered by climatic changes, mainly by the increase in summer precipitation during the Late Glacial interstadials and Middle Holocene. The evidence for P. pusilla is similar, but also suggests rare long‐term survival in the Carpathian microrefugia. The palaeoecological evidence indicates a possible threat to high‐elevation species from future fluctuations in precipitation regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the mountainous regions of the Western United States, increasing wildfire activity and climate change are putting forests at risk of regeneration failure and conversion to non‐forests. During periods with unfavorable climatic conditions, locations that are suitable for post‐fire tree regeneration (regeneration refugia) may be essential for forest recovery. These refugia could provide scattered islands of recovering forest from which broader forest recovery may be facilitated. Spring ecosystems provide cool and wet microsites relative to the surrounding landscape and may act as regeneration refugia, though few studies have investigated their influence on post‐fire regeneration. To address this knowledge gap, we quantified coniferous tree regeneration adjacent to and away from springs in mixed‐conifer forests in a mountainous region of central Idaho, USA. Our research objectives were to (1) quantify post‐fire conifer density near and away from springs, (2) assess the relative importance of distance to a spring compared with other biophysical factors important to post‐fire regeneration, and (3) examine the temporal trends of post‐fire seedling establishment near and away from springs. In areas burned at high severity from fires in 1988, 2000, and 2006, we sampled transects at 27 springs for the count, age, and height of extant conifer seedlings, as well as topographic factors and distance to surviving seed source. We modeled the relative effects of distance to a spring, topographic variables (slope, heat load index, elevation), post‐fire climate, and distance to surviving seed source for the two dominant species, Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), using a generalized linear mixed‐effects model. Our study revealed that proximity to springs resulted in higher conifer density and earlier establishment after high‐severity wildfire when conditions for available seeds and topography were also met. Our results demonstrate that springs are important and previously undescribed regeneration refugia with landscape‐scale implications for post‐fire forest recovery in increasingly water‐limited environments. Springs are relatively abundant features of montane landscapes and may offer continued regeneration refugia for post‐fire recovery into the future, but additional springs mapping and hydroclimatic considerations are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rising global temperatures present unprecedented challenges to marine ecosystems, demanding a profound understanding of their ecological dynamics for effective conservation strategies. Over a comprehensive macroalgal assessment spanning three decades, we investigated the spatiotemporal evolution of shallow‐water benthic communities in the southern Bay of Biscay, uncovering climate‐resilient areas amidst the ongoing phase shift in the region. Our investigation identified seven locations serving as potential climate refugia, where cold‐affinity, canopy‐forming macroalgal species persisted and community structure was similar to that observed in 1991. We unveiled a clear association between the emergence of these refugia, sea surface temperature (SST), and the Community Temperature Index, positioning SST as a significant driver of the observed phase shift in the region. Warming processes, defined as tropicalization (increase of warm‐affinity species) and deborealization (decrease of cold‐affinity species), were prominent outside refugia. In contrast, cooling processes, defined as borealization (increase of cold‐affinity species) and detropicalization (decrease of warm‐affinity species), prevailed inside refugia. Refugia exhibited approximately 35% lower warming processes compared to non‐refuge areas. This resulted in a dominance of warm‐affinity species outside refugia, contrasting with the stability observed within refugia. The persistence of canopy‐forming species in refuge areas significantly contributed to maintaining ecosystem diversity and stability. These findings underscored the pivotal role of climate refugia in mitigating climate‐driven impacts. Prioritizing the protection and restoration of these refugia can foster resilience and ensure the preservation of biodiversity for future generations. Our study illustrates the importance of refining our understanding of how marine ecosystems respond to climate change, offering actionable insights essential for informed conservation strategies and sustainable environmental management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Materials determining the possible pathways of Arctic zone colonization by representatives of thermophilic ichthyofauna are presented. The previously proposed hypothesis that the fish of the thermophilic complex that lived in the White Sea basin during the Subboreal period (sterlet, blue bream, common rudd, white-eye bream, and asp) and were considered extinct during the subsequent cooling in the Subatlantic period, adapted to changed conditions, stayed in particular areas of their range, and became part of the modern ichthyofauna in limited numbers have been elaborated and confirmed. The possible pathways of spontaneous introduction of the Caspian thermophilic species, white-eye bream, and asp to the Northern Dvina basin are considered. Populations of rudd and blue bream, rare thermophilic species for the region, have been detected and studied in the lakes of the Kenozersky National Park. Rudd, a relict species of the Holocene thermal maximum, was previously recorded only in several floodplain lakes of the middle reaches of the Northern Dvina River. The Kenozero population of rudd is the first case of finding epresentatives of this species in the Onega River basin. Blue bream can be also considered a relict found in the territory of the region only in one lake system of the Kenozersky National Park and several small lakes of the Siysky State Nature Reserve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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ABSTRACT A species' demographic history gives important context to contemporary population genetics and a possible insight into past responses to climate change; with an individual's genome providing a window into the evolutionary history of contemporary populations. Pairwise sequentially Markovian coalescent (PSMC) analysis uses information from a single genome to derive fluctuations in effective population size change over the last ~5 million years. Here, we apply PSMC analysis to two European nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus) genomes, sampled in Northwest and Southern Europe, with the aim of revealing the demographic history of nightjar in Europe. We successfully reconstructed effective population size over the last 5 million years. Our analysis shows that in response to global climate change, the effective population size of nightjar broadly increased under stable warm periods and decreased during cooler spans and prolonged glacial periods. PSMC analysis on the pseudo‐diploid combination of the two genomes revealed fluctuations in gene flow between ancestral populations over time, with gene flow ceasing by the last‐glacial period. Our results are tentatively suggestive of divergence in the European nightjar population, with timings consistent with differentiation being driven by restriction to different refugia during periods of glaciation. Finally, our results suggest that migratory behaviour in nightjar likely evolved prior to the last‐glacial period, with long‐distance migration seemingly persisting throughout the Pleistocene. However, further genetic structure analysis of individuals from known breeding sites across the species' contemporary range is needed to understand the extent and origins of range‐wide differentiation in nightjar.

Climate and land use change are the primary drivers causing the reduction of habitat range for many species worldwide, especially wide-ranging and large-bodied ungulates. For instance, khulan (Equus hemionus hemionus), a flagship species inhabiting desert regions of Asia, exhibits heightened vulnerability to habitat loss and fragmentation due to their extensive habitat requirements. We simulated suitable khulan habitats in China across 20 scenarios, including the past (1980–2000), current (2001–2022), and future (2050 s and 2070 s) climate and land use change scenarios. For each scenario, we identified the suitable habitat area and evaluated the effectiveness of protected areas (PAs). Our findings revealed a decline in khulan habitat area from 133,006 km2 in the past to 60,141 km2 at present. Future scenarios indicate further reductions in potential khulan habitat, with more negative impacts resulting from climate change than land use change. Northern Xinjiang is expected to persist as a primary area of both in-situ and ex-situ refugia for khulan in future scenarios. Although suitable habitat within existing PAs is smaller than that outside, the rates of habitat loss and fragmentation outside the PAs surpass those inside PAs. These findings emphasize the importance of effective management strategies for PAs as crucial goals for ongoing conservation efforts for the khulan. Our models suggest that future suitable habitat for khulan will be situated along the international border between China and Mongolia, adjacent to protected areas in Mongolia utilized by khulan. Enhancing connectivity between these habitats could significantly contribute to improving both the climate and genetic resilience of khulan populations.

Changing climate will jeopardize biodiversity, particularly the geographic distribution of endemic species. One such species is the Javan Hawk-Eagle (JHE, Nisaetus bartelsi), a charismatic raptor found only on Java Island, Indonesia. Thus, it is crucial to develop an appropriate conservation strategy to preserve the species. Ecological niche modeling is considered a valuable tool for designing conservation plans for the JHE. We provide an ecological niche modeling approach and transfer its model to future climate scenarios for the JHE. We utilize various machine learning algorithms under sustainability and business-as-usual (BAU) scenarios for 2050. Additionally, we investigate the conservation vulnerability of the JHE, capturing multifaceted pressures on the species from climate dissimilarities and human disturbance variables. Our study reveals that the ensemble model performs exceptionally well, with temperature emerging as the most critical factor affecting the JHE distribution. This finding indicates that climate change will have a significant impact on the JHE species. Our results suggest that the JHE distribution will likely decrease by 28.41% and 40.16% from the current JHE distribution under sustainability and BAU scenarios, respectively. Furthermore, our study reveals high-potential refugia for future JHE, covering 7,596 km2 (61%) under the sustainability scenario and only 4,403 km2 (35%) under the BAU scenario. Therefore, effective management and planning, including habitat restoration, refugia preservation, habitat connectivity, and local community inclusivity, should be well-managed to achieve JHE conservation targets.

In the face of climate change and associated increases in disturbances, some areas, known as refugia, will remain or become newly habitable for species, while others will be lost. Planning and managing for refugia can support biodiversity and conservation. However, without explicit consideration of justice, planning and management for refugia risks unnecessarily limiting information about local conditions and traditional practices that may be contained in Indigenous knowledges, and causing maladaptive consequences such as exclusion of Indigenous communities from decision-making and from protected areas, with loss of use of traditional plants and animals. The article proposes a new concept, Indigenous refugia, that incorporates three types of justice into existing theories of refugia for conservation in the face of climate change: recognition justice as understanding and respect for Indigenous values, experiences, and knowledges; procedural justice in collaboration and decision-making; and distributional justice as access to species and lands that sustain cultural and social processes. It presents a potential example of Indigenous refugia for the planning and management for climate-vulnerable Douglas-fir in New Mexico in collaboration with Pueblo, Diné (Navajo), Nde (Apache), and other Indigenous peoples with ancestral lands in the area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under global warming, drought will reduce productivity of Pinus halepensis s.l. (subspecies halepensis and brutia) and cause a retreat from its rear edge distribution (latitudinal/elevational) in the Mediterranean. To test whether topography can influence this scenario, we studied for approximately 40 years the growth of six natural pine stands in water-limited habitats on the islands of Zakinthos and Samos (eastern Mediterranean Greece), and determined the critical moisture sources that drove pine growth. Dominant pines were selected with no permanent water sources under contrasting moisture conditions created by topography ("wet"-gulley/valley vs. "dry"-upslope habitats). The responses of P. halepensis s.l. to drought under a moderate and a worst case scenario were tested, projected under global warming (approx. − 25% and 40% in annual precipitation compared to 1961–1990 average). Our results show that "wet" habitat pines had higher productivity under normal to wet climate. However, the more precipitation declined, "wet" habitat tree growth was reduced at a significantly faster rate, but also showed a faster recovery, once rainfall returned. Thus, Pinus halepensis s.l. populations in gullies/valleys, may be more drought resilient and less likely to retreat towards higher elevation/latitudes under global warming, compared to pines on dry upslope sites. Under moderate drought, both ecosystems relied on deeper moisture pools supplied by rainfall of the previous 3–6 years (including the year of growth). However, valley/gully habitat pines on significantly deeper soils (and probably on deeper heavily weathered bedrock), appeared to utilize surface moisture from winter/spring rainfall more efficiently for survival and recovery. Thus, deep soils may provide the key "buffer" for pine survival in such ecosystems that could act as potential refugia for P. halepensis s.l. under climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disentangling how climate oscillations and geographical events significantly influence plants' genetic architecture and demographic history is a central topic in phytogeography. The deciduous ancient tree species Ulmus macrocarpa is primarily distributed throughout Northern China and has timber and horticultural value. In the current study, we studied the phylogenic architecture and demographical history of U. macrocarpa using chloroplast DNA with ecological niche modeling. The results indicated that the populations' genetic differentiation coefficient (NST) value was significantly greater than the haplotype frequency (GST) (p < 0.05), suggesting that U. macrocarpa had a clear phylogeographical structure. Phylogenetic inference showed that the putative chloroplast haplotypes could be divided into three groups, in which the group Ⅰ was considered to be ancestral. Despite significant genetic differentiation among these groups, gene flow was detected. The common ancestor of all haplotypes was inferred to originate in the middle–late Miocene, followed by the haplotype overwhelming diversification that occurred in the Quaternary. Combined with demography pattern and ecological niche modeling, we speculated that the surrounding areas of Shanxi and Inner Mongolia were potential refugia for U. macrocarpa during the glacial period in Northern China. Our results illuminated the demography pattern of U. macrocarpa and provided clues and references for further population genetics investigations of precious tree species distributed in Northern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Only a few palaeo-records extend beyond the Holocene in Yakutia, eastern Siberia, since most of the lakes in the region are of Holocene thermokarst origin. Thus, we have a poor understanding of the long-term interactions between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and their response to climate change. The Lake Khamra region in southwestern Yakutia is of particular interest because it is in the transition zones from discontinuous to sporadic permafrost and from summergreen to evergreen boreal forests. Our multiproxy study of Lake Khamra sediments reaching back to the Last Glacial Maximum 21 cal ka BP, includes analyses of organic carbon, nitrogen, XRF-derived elements, sedimentary ancient DNA amplicon sequencing of aquatic and terrestrial plants and diatoms, as well as classical counting of pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs (NPP). The palaeogenetic approach revealed 45 diatom, 191 terrestrial plant, and 65 aquatic macrophyte taxa. Pollen analyses identified 34 pollen taxa and 28 NPP taxa. The inferred terrestrial ecosystem of the Last Glacial comprises tundra vegetation dominated by forbs and grasses, likely inhabited by megaherbivores. By 18.4 cal ka BP a lake had developed with a high abundance of macrophytes and dominant fragilarioid diatoms, while shrubs expanded around the lake. In the Bolling-Allerod at 14.7 cal ka BP both the terrestrial and aquatic systems reflect climate amelioration, alongside lake water-level rise and woodland establishment, which was curbed by the Younger Dryas cooling. In the Early Holocene warmer and wetter climate led to taiga development and lake waterlevel rise, reflected by diatom composition turnover from only epiphytic to planktonic diatoms. In the Mid-Holocene the lake water level decreased at ca. 8.2 cal ka BP and increased again at ca. 6.5 cal ka BP. At the same time mixed evergreen-summergreen forest expanded. In the Late Holocene, at ca. 4 cal ka BP, vegetation cover similar to modern conditions established. This study reveals the long-term shifts in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and a comprehensive understanding of lake development and catchment history of the Lake Khamra region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pleistocene climatic oscillations exerted significant influences on the genetic structure and demography of rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) in eastern China. However, the evolutionary history of rhesus macaques in subtropical and temperate China remained unclear and/or controversial. Herein, we analyzed the autosomes, mitochondrial genomes, and Y‐chromosomes from 84 individuals of Chinese rhesus macaque. The results revealed that (1) all individuals were clustered into pan‐west and pan‐east genetic groups, which exhibited Shaanxi Province as the northernmost region of western dispersal route of rhesus macaques in China; (2) in subtropical and temperate China, rhesus macaques were divided into four lineages (TH, DB, HS, and QL), and their divergence times corresponded to the Penultimate Glaciation (300–130 kya) and Last Glaciation (70–10 kya), respectively; (3) the individuals from Mt. Taihangshan (TH) are closely related to individuals from Mt. Dabashan (DB) in the autosomal tree, rather than individuals from Mt. Huangshan (HS) as indicated by the mitogenome tree, which supports the hypothesis that the ancestral rhesus macaques radiated into Mt. Taihangshan from Mt. Huangshan via Mt. Dabashan; and (4) the demographic scenario of the four lineages showed the ancestral rhesus macaques bottleneck and expansion corresponding to the suitable habitat reduction and expansion, which confirmed they had experienced northward recolonization and southward retreat events from Mt. Huangshan area via Northern China Plain to Northernmost China along with Pleistocene glacial cycles. This study provides a new insight into understanding how Pleistocene glaciation has influenced faunal diversity in subtropical and temperate China, especially for those exhibiting differential patterns of sex dispersal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A little more than 10% of the vascular plant flora native to the European Alps is endemic to this area. It has long been noticed that the distribution of endemics across the Alps is very uneven. While most endemics are found along the southern edge of the Alps, with some also on its western, eastern, and northeastern edges, the northern edge of the Alps more or less between Lake Geneva in the west and Lake Traun in the east harbours almost no endemics. The distribution of endemics in the Alps has often been related to the location of glacial refugia. Accordingly, the virtual absence of endemics from the northern edge of the Alps has been explained with the unsuitability of climatic conditions for glacial survival of alpine plants there. After discussing evidence for the existence of glacial refugia for alpine species along the northern edge of the Alps and north of the Alps, I will examine how these refugia differed from refugia along the southern edge of the Alps. I conclude that the uneven distribution of endemics in the Alps is best explained by the different climate through time north and south of the Alps. These climatic differences affected the spatial structure and extent of refugia, the length of isolation of refugial populations, and selective conditions in refugia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic variation in Arctic species is often influenced by vicariance during the Pleistocene, as ice sheets fragmented the landscape and displaced populations to low‐ and high‐latitude refugia. The formation of secondary contact or suture zones during periods of ice sheet retraction has important consequences on genetic diversity by facilitating genetic connectivity between formerly isolated populations. Brant geese (Branta bernicla) are a maritime migratory waterfowl (Anseriformes) species that almost exclusively uses coastal habitats. Within North America, brant geese are characterized by two phenotypically distinct subspecies that utilize disjunct breeding and wintering areas in the northern Pacific and Atlantic. In the Western High Arctic of Canada, brant geese consist of individuals with an intermediate phenotype that are rarely observed nesting outside this region. We examined the genetic structure of brant geese populations from each subspecies and areas consisting of intermediate phenotypes using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequence data and microsatellite loci. We found a strong east–west partition in both marker types consistent with refugial populations. Within subspecies, structure was also observed at mtDNA while microsatellite data suggested the presence of only two distinct genetic clusters. The Western High Arctic (WHA) appears to be a secondary contact zone for both Atlantic and Pacific lineages as mtDNA and nuclear genotypes were assigned to both subspecies, and admixed individuals were observed in this region. The mtDNA sequence data outside WHA suggests no or very restricted intermixing between Atlantic and Pacific wintering populations which is consistent with published banding and telemetry data. Our study indicates that, although brant geese in the WHA are not a genetically distinct lineage, this region may act as a reservoir of genetic diversity and may be an area of high conservation value given the potential of low reproductive output in this species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As global change spurs shifts in benthic community composition on coral reefs globally, a better understanding of the defining taxonomic and functional features that differentiate proliferating benthic taxa is needed to predict functional trajectories of reef degradation better. This is especially critical for algal groups, which feature dramatically on changing reefs. Limited attention has been given to characterizing the features that differentiate tufting epilithic cyanobacterial communities from ubiquitous turf algal assemblages. Here, we integrated an in situ assessment of photosynthetic yield with metabarcoding and shotgun metagenomic sequencing to explore photophysiology and prokaryotic assemblage structure within epilithic tufting benthic cyanobacterial communities and epilithic algal turf communities. Significant differences were not detected in the average quantum yield. However, variability in yield was significantly higher in cyanobacterial tufts. Neither prokaryotic assemblage diversity nor structure significantly differed between these functional groups. The sampled cyanobacterial tufts, predominantly built by Okeania sp., were co‐dominated by members of the Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Bacteroidota, as were turf algal communities. Few detected ASVs were significantly differentially abundant between functional groups and consisted exclusively of taxa belonging to the phyla Proteobacteria and Firmicutes. Assessment of the distribution of recovered cyanobacterial amplicons demonstrated that alongside sample‐specific cyanobacterial diversification, the dominant cyanobacterial members were conserved across tufting cyanobacterial and turf algal communities. Overall, these data suggest a convergence in taxonomic identity and mean photosynthetic potential between tufting epilithic cyanobacterial communities and algal turf communities, with numerous implications for consumer‐resource dynamics on future reefs and trajectories of reef functional ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Influenced by rapid changes in climate and landscape features since the Miocene, widely distributed species provide suitable models to study the environmental impact on their evolution and current genetic diversity. The dice snake Natrix tessellata , widely distributed in the Western Palearctic is one such species. We aimed to resolve a detailed phylogeography of N. tessellata with a focus on the Central Asian clade with 4 and the Anatolia clade with 3 mitochondrial lineages, trace their origin, and correlate the environmental changes that affected their distribution through time. The expected time of divergence of both clades began at 3.7 Mya in the Pliocene, reaching lineage differentiation approximately 1 million years later. The genetic diversity in both clades is rich, suggesting different ancestral areas, glacial refugia, demographic changes, and colonization routes. The Caspian lineage is the most widespread lineage in Central Asia, distributed around the Caspian Sea and reaching the foothills of the Hindu Kush Mountains in Afghanistan, and Eastern European lowlands in the west. Its distribution is limited by deserts, mountains, and cold steppe environments. Similarly, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan lineages followed the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya water systems in Central Asia, with ranges delimited by the large Kyzylkum and Karakum deserts. On the western side, there are several lineages within the Anatolia clade that converged in the central part of the peninsula with 2 being endemic to Western Asia. The distribution of both main clades was affected by expansion from their Pleistocene glacial refugia around the Caspian Sea and in the valleys of Central Asia as well as by environmental changes, mostly through aridification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In the mountainous regions of the Western United States, increasing wildfire activity and climate change are putting forests at risk of regeneration failure and conversion to non‐forests. During periods with unfavorable climatic conditions, locations that are suitable for post‐fire tree regeneration (regeneration refugia) may be essential for forest recovery. These refugia could provide scattered islands of recovering forest from which broader forest recovery may be facilitated. Spring ecosystems provide cool and wet microsites relative to the surrounding landscape and may act as regeneration refugia, though few studies have investigated their influence on post‐fire regeneration. To address this knowledge gap, we quantified coniferous tree regeneration adjacent to and away from springs in mixed‐conifer forests in a mountainous region of central Idaho, USA. Our research objectives were to (1) quantify post‐fire conifer density near and away from springs, (2) assess the relative importance of distance to a spring compared with other biophysical factors important to post‐fire regeneration, and (3) examine the temporal trends of post‐fire seedling establishment near and away from springs. In areas burned at high severity from fires in 1988, 2000, and 2006, we sampled transects at 27 springs for the count, age, and height of extant conifer seedlings, as well as topographic factors and distance to surviving seed source. We modeled the relative effects of distance to a spring, topographic variables (slope, heat load index, elevation), post‐fire climate, and distance to surviving seed source for the two dominant species, Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), using a generalized linear mixed‐effects model. Our study revealed that proximity to springs resulted in higher conifer density and earlier establishment after high‐severity wildfire when conditions for available seeds and topography were also met. Our results demonstrate that springs are important and previously undescribed regeneration refugia with landscape‐scale implications for post‐fire forest recovery in increasingly water‐limited environments. Springs are relatively abundant features of montane landscapes and may offer continued regeneration refugia for post‐fire recovery into the future, but additional springs mapping and hydroclimatic considerations are needed.

Understanding how land use types embedded in agricultural landscapes support forest biodiversity is critical, especially during this period of continuing fragmentation and habitat losses in natural ecosystems. Here, we explored the floristic species composition with respect to land use types in the agroecosystem of west Oromia, Ethiopia. For this, a systematic sampling method was employed to collect floristic data from 122 main quadrats and 610 sub-quadrats, following transects laid out with a 1500-m interval. The main quadrats were arranged on transects with an 800-m interval to assess woody species, and five sub-quadrats (i.e., four at the corners and one at the center) were taken within each main plot to assess herbaceous plants. Accordingly, the floristics were assessed with respect to the identified five land use types, including crop land, forest, grazing land, home gardens, and riverine. We used a one-way ANOVA to test the difference in species diversity among the land use types. Adonis 2 and indval functions were used to describe the species composition and indicator species in relation to the land use types. Moreover, NMDS was applied to visualize the associations of the species composition with environmental variables in ordination space. A total of 285 plant species belonging to 220 genera and 89 families were recorded. Our results showed significant differences in species diversity, dissimilarity in species composition, and species indicator values among the land use types. These results indicate that the potentiality of the land use types in supporting plant diversity is significantly different; for example, species diversity and abundances were higher in grazing lands and home gardens when compared with other land use types. Overall, our findings suggest that conservation strategies in agricultural landscapes should take into account the differences in capacity for supporting biodiversity among land use types when planning.

Current climate change, habitat degradation, pastoralism, shoot and bulb harvesting pose serious threats to the rare Caucasian endemic Fritillaria latifolia throughout its range. Knowledge of the limiting factors, species range dynamics in relation to climate change and the role of Protected Areas in species distribution are necessary to develop an effective conservation system at present and in the future. This was aimed (1) to determine the most suitable set of abiotic predictors for modelling Fritillaria latifolia localisation, (2) to formalise environmental and anthropogenic factors in species distribution models, (3) to predict the possible changes in the species range in relation to climatic changes, (4) to identify refugia with a consistently high probability of the species occurrence despite climatic changes. We applied Maxent software for species habitat modelling to build current and climatic models of the Fritillaria latifolia distribution, considering the abiotic variables and anthropogenic predictors such as the distance to Protected Areas and grasslands. Distances to anthropogenic infrastructure were calculated with the Path Distance measure considering the horizontal straight-line distance, surface distance and vertical factor. We also formalised the area accessibility (movement factor) through the distance to optimal sites (plots with 0.8 threshold of habitat suitability), where the probability of species occurrence was higher than 0.5. The most important abiotic variables in the species distribution were the Emberger's pluviothermic quotient, with optimal values corresponding to humid and perhumid climates, and the terrain roughness index, with optimal values ranging from nearly level (81–116) to intermediately rugged (162–239) slopes. Distance to Protected Areas (0–1 km) was the third important predictor of the Fritillaria latifolia current distribution, while the distance to grasslands contributed less to the model. The distance of suitable areas from optimal habitats (area accessibility) was 15 km. The species current core ranges are localised in the Western and Central Caucasus, Western and Central Transcaucasia, and the northwestern ridges of the Lesser Caucasus within a network of Protected Areas covering most of the highlands. The optimistic socio-economic pathway SSP1-2.6 predicted a 1.6-fold decrease in the area of species optimal habitats from 2021 to 2100. The pessimistic SSP5-8.5 scenario predicted 122-fold habitat area reduction. According to SSP1-2.6 climatic models, by 2100 the refugia area would be 172.4 km2 in the highlands of the western and central parts of the Greater Caucasus, including the Caucasus State Nature Reserve and Teberda National Park. These areas should be prioritised for the conservation of Fritillaria latifolia populations.

During the present study, the evolutionary relationship within a clade of mountain clade of freshwater crabs (Potamonautes) was examined using mtDNA sequence data for species from the Cape Fold Mountain (CFM) and Great Escarpment (Drakensberg Mountain range). We undertook phylogenetic analyses, divergence time estimation, and an ancestral area reconstruction to explore the period of cladogenesis and understand the biogeographic history in this high‐altitude clade. Furthermore, we applied four species delimitation methods using ASAP, bPTP, bGMYC, and STACEY on the latter clade. Bayesian phylogenetic analyses retrieved a monophyletic freshwater crab clade comprised of two major sister clades, one comprised of the Cape Fold (clade A) and two comprised of Drakensberg Mountains (clade B) species. Divergence time estimation indicated that the two clades underwent Mio/Pliocene cladogenesis. Within the CFM clade (A), P. amathole (Amathola Mountains) was sister to P. parvispina (Cederberg and Kouebokkeveld Mountains) and the latter species were sister to P. parvicorpus (Cape Peninsula, Jonkershoek, and Helderberg Mountains) sister to P. tuerkayi (Overberg Mountains) and P. brincki (Hottentots Holland Mountains). Within the Drakensberg Mountain clade (B), we observed in situ diversification. Specimens from the southcentral Drakensberg Mountains (Dargle Forest, Injasuti, Karkloof, and Impendle) represent a new undescribed lineage Potamonautes sp. nov. 1. The second clade from the northern Drakensberg, representing P. clarus, was sister to a central Drakensberg Mountain clade that comprised P. depressus that was in turn sister to P. baziya from the Eastern Cape Province. The application of species delimitation methods generally overestimated the number of species. The biogeographic analyses indicated that the Eastern Cape Province is the most likely ancestral range area. Ecological niche modelling of representative species in clades A (Cape Fold Mountains) and B (Drakensberg Mountains) demonstrated that temperature and rainfall were the major abiotic drivers that differentiated the two clades. Our data favours the mountain gradient speciation hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Pampas of South America represents one of the most extended subtropical–temperate grasslands in the world. This ecoregion was influenced by Pleistocene climate oscillations. The sigmodontine rodent assemblage inhabiting this region is a good model system to analyse the impact of these climate changes on evolutionary histories. We performed a comparative phylogeographical study on seven species to evaluate the concordance of phylogeographical patterns among them, to assess if they experienced congruent and synchronous demographic changes, and posit putative centres of origin and dispersal routes. Four species (Calomys musculinus , Oligoryzomys flavescens , Oxymycterus nasutus and Oligoryzomys nigripes) showed evidence of demographic expansion. In the first three, population increases started during Marine Isotope Stage 5 (MIS 5) while in Ol. nigripes , the rise started during MIS 7; this rise would have continued to the present in all cases. Necromys lasiurus , Scapteromys tumidus and Scapteromys aquaticus did not show a pattern of expansion. Four centres of origin were identified; in general, populations sharing the same putative refugium followed common dispersal routes. Our results indicate that the Pampas offered relatively stable habitats over time, mainly in areas associated with watercourses or coastlines, suggesting that recent Pleistocene climate oscillations have had a moderate impact on this ecoregion compared to other regions of South America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many north‐temperate tree species survived glacial periods in small, low‐density populations in refugia. These refugia are located in eastern and western North America, South Europe, East Asia, and western Asia. As a part of western Asia, Georgia harbors two main refugia: the Colchis in western Georgia and the eastern Great Caucasus, where many Cenozoic relict plants still exist. In this article, we report a new population of Pterocarya fraxinifolia (the Caucasian wingnut) which was discovered in the eastern Great Caucasus, near the village Lapankuri. The Lapankuri P. fraxinifolia stand is unique because the species grows not only in a narrow strip of riparian vegetation, but is also occurring in a broad band up to 100 m away from the river. Pterocarya fraxinifolia is dominant in the stand and is represented by large and old trees. Many other relict trees such as Diospyros lotus and Juglans regia are also present in the Lapankuri stand. Although some Cenozoic relict species are widely cultivated and naturalized in Central and Western Europe, natural stands of these plants provide the only evidence of their past growing conditions; therefore, conservation of this place is strongly advocated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution of vascular plant species and assemblages existing in beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forests was compared with the distribution of beech chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) haplotypes, aiming to identify possible interpretable trends of co-occurrence, on a small geographical scale, and to infer the relevant historical factors. Vegetation and genetic (cpSSR) data were collected from 60 plots on Mt. Menikio (northeastern Greece). Classification and ordination analyses were applied on the vegetation data, while on the cpSSR data, diversity measures and genetic structure analyses were employed. A probabilistic co-occurrence analysis was performed on haplotypes and taxa. The results show that a plant biogeographical border exists on Mt. Menikio which, in addition, has acted both as a refugium and as a meeting point of lineages for more than one glacial cycle. Significant associations of co-occurrence between haplotypes and vascular taxa were found but no common distribution patterns between the former and species assemblages were identified. The combined consideration of the distribution profiles of species assemblages, plant species and cpDNA haplotypes (corresponding to the three levels of biodiversity) provides concrete information on historical events, leading to a comprehensive understanding of the evolutionary and biogeographical processes that have shaped specific spatial patterns of biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Habitat stability is important for maintaining biodiversity by preventing species extinction, but this stability is being challenged by climate change. The tropical alpine ecosystem is currently one of the ecosystems most threatened by global warming, and the flora close to the permanent snow line is at high risk of extinction. The tropical alpine ecosystem, found in South and Central America, Malesia and Papuasia, Africa, and Hawaii, is of relatively young evolutionary age, and it has been exposed to changing climates since its origin, particularly during the Pleistocene. Estimating habitat loss and gain between the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the present allows us to relate current biodiversity to past changes in climate and habitat stability. In order to do so, (i) we developed a unifying climate‐based delimitation of tropical alpine regions across continents, and (ii) we used this delimitation to assess the degree of habitat stability, that is, the overlap of suitable areas between the LGM and the present, in different tropical alpine regions. Finally, we discuss the link between habitat stability and tropical alpine plant diversity. Our climate‐based delimitation approach can be easily applied to other ecosystems using our developed code, facilitating macro‐comparative studies of habitat dynamics through time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent extremes of flood and drought across Australia have raised questions about the recurrence of such rare events and highlighted the importance of understanding multi-decadal climate variability. However, instrumental records over the past century are too short to adequately characterise climate variability on multi-decadal and longer timescales or robustly determine extreme event frequencies and their duration. Palaeoclimate reconstructions can provide much-needed information to help address this problem. Here, we use the 600-year hydroclimate record captured in the eastern Australian and New Zealand Drought Atlas (ANZDA) to analyse drought and pluvial frequency trends for East Australian Natural Resource Management (NRM) clusters. This partitioning of the drought atlas grid points into recognised biophysical areas (i.e. NRM clusters) revealed their differences and similarities in drought intensity and pluvial events over time. We find sustained multi-decadal periods of a wet–dry geographic 'seesaw' between eastern to central and southern NRMs (e.g. 1550–1600 CE and 1700–1750 CE). In contrast, other periods reveal spatially consistent wetting (e.g. 1500–1550 CE) or drying (e.g. 1750–1800 CE). Emerging hot spot analysis further shows that some areas that appear naturally buffered from severe drought during the instrumental period have a greater exposure risk when the longer 600-year record is considered. These findings are particularly relevant to management plans when dealing with the impacts of climate extremes developed at regional scales. Our results demonstrate that integrating and extending instrumental records with palaeoclimate datasets will become increasingly important for developing robust and locally specific extreme event frequency information for managing water resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: East Asian subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests (EBLFs) are composed of western and eastern subregions with different topographical and environmental conditions. The distribution shifts over time of plants in the two subregions are predicted to be different, but the difference has seldom been investigated. Methods: Potential distributions of 53 Magnoliaceae species (22 in the western and 31 in the eastern subregion) during the last glacial maximum (LGM), present, and the 2070s were predicted using MaxEnt based on 58 environmental variables. The changes in the distribution range size and centroid over time were analyzed. Species-level potential habitats were overlaid to uncover species diversity distribution, and the distributions over time were overlaid to discover long-term refugia. Results: At present, the potential distributions are significantly larger than those shown by the occurrence points. During the LGM, 20/22 species in the western subregion experienced increases in range size through downwards and southward migrations, while decreases in range size in the eastern subregion (27/31 species) were accompanied by northward and eastward migrations. In the future, range size declines and northward shifts will both be found; northwestward shifts will exist in most (20/22 species) species in the western subregion, while both northwest- and northeastward shifts will occur in the eastern subregion. The diversity hotspots experienced a slight southward shift in the past and upwards to the mountain region in the future in the western subregion; in the eastern subregion, shrinks occurred in eastern China in the past and shrinks were shown in all regions in the future. Long-term refugia-preserving diversity was found in the mountains across the entire EBLFs region. Main conclusions: Significant differences in distribution shifts from past to present and similar distribution shifts from present to future are revealed in the two subregions. Species diversity in both subregions experienced no significant shifts from past to future, and Magnoliaceae plants could be preserved in mountainous regions throughout the EBLFs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying locations of refugia from the thermal stresses of climate change for coral reefs and better managing them is one of the key recommendations for climate change adaptation. We review and summarize approximately 30 years of applied research focused on identifying climate refugia to prioritize the conservation actions for coral reefs under rapid climate change. We found that currently proposed climate refugia and the locations predicted to avoid future coral losses are highly reliant on excess heat metrics, such as degree heating weeks. However, many existing alternative environmental, ecological, and life‐history variables could be used to identify other types of refugia that lead to the desired diversified portfolio for coral reef conservation. To improve conservation priorities for coral reefs, there is a need to evaluate and validate the predictions of climate refugia with long‐term field data on coral abundance, diversity, and functioning. There is also the need to identify and safeguard locations displaying resistance toprolonged exposure to heat waves and the ability to recover quickly after thermal exposure. We recommend using more metrics to identify a portfolio of potential refugia sites for coral reefs that can avoid, resist, and recover from exposure to high ocean temperatures and the consequences of climate change, thereby shifting past efforts focused on avoidance to a diversified risk‐spreading portfolio that can be used to improve strategic coral reef conservation in a rapidly warming climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article envisions alternatives for refugee camps, detention centres and precarious encampments by exploring the management of Tibetan refugee settlements, particularly in India. They have developed from encampments to unique settlements, forming a community some call the world's most successful refugee community. In terms of existing alternative ideas to provide better placements for the displaced, these settlements share similarities with a vision of Refugia, which aims to increase refugees' agency and end mass displacement through a network of autonomous places. The Tibetan model can predict some challenges and possibilities of Refugia and suggest improvements to the current refugee protection system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The Neotropics constitute the most biodiverse region of the world, yet its patterns of diversification and speciation differ among Neotropical areas and are not equally well understood. Particularly, avian evolutionary processes are understudied in the open habitats of temperate South America, where the role of glacial cycles is not clear. We analysed the evolutionary history of a Neotropical widespread bird species as a case study to evaluate its continental‐scale patterns and processes of diversification, with a focus on Patagonia. Location: Open habitats of the Neotropics. Taxon: Vanellus chilensis (Aves, Charadriiformes). Methods: We obtained reduced representation genomic and mitochondrial data from the four subspecies of V. chilensis to perform a phylogenetic/phylogeographical analysis and study the evolutionary history of the species. We complemented these analyses with the study of vocalizations, a reproductive signal in birds. Results: The initial diversification event within V. chilensis, approximately 600,000 years ago, split a Patagonian lineage from one containing individuals from the rest of the Neotropics. We found considerable gene flow between these two lineages and a contact zone in northern Patagonia, and showed that genomic admixture extends to northwestern Argentina. Shallower divergence was detected between the two non‐Patagonian subspecies, which are separated by the Amazon River. Vocalizations were significantly different between the two main lineages and were intermediate in their temporal and frequency characteristics in the contact zone. Main Conclusions: Patagonian populations of V. chilensis are clearly differentiated from those of the rest of the Neotropics, possibly as a consequence of Pleistocene glaciations. A secondary contact zone in northern Patagonia with extensive gene flow among lineages appears to be the consequence of post‐glacial, northward expansion of the Patagonian populations. Future analyses focused on the dynamics of the contact zone will allow us to establish whether the species continues to diverge or is homogenizing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ongoing management and protection of conservation areas can be informed by understanding factors that affect the integrity of these communities. Abiotic factors associated with diversity and phylogenetic dispersion within communities, as well as distinctiveness between communities, may potentially be impacted by climate change or changes in hydrology due to urbanization. This study used a range of diversity metrics, along with nominal and quantitative abiotic data, to examine correlates with diversity patterns in the Sunshine Coast heathlands, ecosystems under threat from urban development. Metrics for 80 heathland sites over a variety of substrates, moisture levels and topographic factors were compared using univariate and multivariate statistics. Moisture is a key abiotic factor correlated with the diversity and distinctiveness of heath, and also with higher phylogenetic dispersion of moist and wet sites, indicating possible refuges. Vegetation composition patterns were distinct in the heaths on Tertiary and Triassic rocky volcanic substrates, with the overlapping composition of heath on other substrates, confirming the tolerance of many heath species to a variety of substrates. Patterned natural 'mounds' and 'trenches' were associated with phylogenetic evenness and are possible refugia. Multivariate analysis had a weak positive correlation of environmental factors with vegetation and phylogenetic composition, emphasizing the complexity of correlates with diversity for the heathlands. This study suggests that both the management of hydrological changes and protection of potential refugial areas are likely to be critical in maintaining the integrity and diversity of the Sunshine Coast heathlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Wildlife space use is a key component to consider when determining effective conservation and management practices. Home range size and resource selection can vary temporally and spatially depending on mortality risks in the area and access to food resources. Lands used for coal mining can contain unique mortality risks and food resources for American black bears (Ursus americanus) relative to surrounding landscapes due to hunting restrictions, vegetation planted as part of the reclamation process, and other anthropogenic food resources. We examined the influence of mining sites on resource selection of female black bears in southern West Virginia, USA, during 2007 and 2008. We estimated home range size with Brownian Bridge movement models and evaluated variation in home range size with mixed‐effects linear regression. We evaluated resource selection with mixed‐effects Poisson point process models. On mine sites, the mean 95% home range for female black bears was 1,996 ha (SD = 2,633) in the autumn and 544 ha (SD = 238) in the spring, and on non‐mine sites the mean 95% home range was 1,926 ha (SD = 1,292) in the autumn and 771 ha (SD = 480) in the spring. Our resource selection model indicated black bears used nonhunting zones associated with mine lands much greater than their availability, and that black bears in mine areas disproportionately used areas in close proximity to anthropogenic structures. Interannual variation in home range size was likely associated with mast conditions, because smaller home ranges were associated with high mast production. Our data suggest black bears may be using non‐hunting zones within mine lands as refugia from hunting and are using anthropogenic food sources available at refuse sites on mine lands, which may increase regional black bear populations in areas with high mining activity.

In the face of climate change and associated increases in disturbances, some areas, known as refugia, will remain or become newly habitable for species, while others will be lost. Planning and managing for refugia can support biodiversity and conservation. However, without explicit consideration of justice, planning and management for refugia risks unnecessarily limiting information about local conditions and traditional practices that may be contained in Indigenous knowledges, and causing maladaptive consequences such as exclusion of Indigenous communities from decision-making and from protected areas, with loss of use of traditional plants and animals. The article proposes a new concept, Indigenous refugia, that incorporates three types of justice into existing theories of refugia for conservation in the face of climate change: recognition justice as understanding and respect for Indigenous values, experiences, and knowledges; procedural justice in collaboration and decision-making; and distributional justice as access to species and lands that sustain cultural and social processes. It presents a potential example of Indigenous refugia for the planning and management for climate-vulnerable Douglas-fir in New Mexico in collaboration with Pueblo, Diné (Navajo), Nde (Apache), and other Indigenous peoples with ancestral lands in the area.

Abstract Pleistocene climatic oscillations exerted significant influences on the genetic structure and demography of rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) in eastern China. However, the evolutionary history of rhesus macaques in subtropical and temperate China remained unclear and/or controversial. Herein, we analyzed the autosomes, mitochondrial genomes, and Y‐chromosomes from 84 individuals of Chinese rhesus macaque. The results revealed that (1) all individuals were clustered into pan‐west and pan‐east genetic groups, which exhibited Shaanxi Province as the northernmost region of western dispersal route of rhesus macaques in China; (2) in subtropical and temperate China, rhesus macaques were divided into four lineages (TH, DB, HS, and QL), and their divergence times corresponded to the Penultimate Glaciation (300–130 kya) and Last Glaciation (70–10 kya), respectively; (3) the individuals from Mt. Taihangshan (TH) are closely related to individuals from Mt. Dabashan (DB) in the autosomal tree, rather than individuals from Mt. Huangshan (HS) as indicated by the mitogenome tree, which supports the hypothesis that the ancestral rhesus macaques radiated into Mt. Taihangshan from Mt. Huangshan via Mt. Dabashan; and (4) the demographic scenario of the four lineages showed the ancestral rhesus macaques bottleneck and expansion corresponding to the suitable habitat reduction and expansion, which confirmed they had experienced northward recolonization and southward retreat events from Mt. Huangshan area via Northern China Plain to Northernmost China along with Pleistocene glacial cycles. This study provides a new insight into understanding how Pleistocene glaciation has influenced faunal diversity in subtropical and temperate China, especially for those exhibiting differential patterns of sex dispersal.

Abstract Genetic variation in Arctic species is often influenced by vicariance during the Pleistocene, as ice sheets fragmented the landscape and displaced populations to low‐ and high‐latitude refugia. The formation of secondary contact or suture zones during periods of ice sheet retraction has important consequences on genetic diversity by facilitating genetic connectivity between formerly isolated populations. Brant geese (Branta bernicla) are a maritime migratory waterfowl (Anseriformes) species that almost exclusively uses coastal habitats. Within North America, brant geese are characterized by two phenotypically distinct subspecies that utilize disjunct breeding and wintering areas in the northern Pacific and Atlantic. In the Western High Arctic of Canada, brant geese consist of individuals with an intermediate phenotype that are rarely observed nesting outside this region. We examined the genetic structure of brant geese populations from each subspecies and areas consisting of intermediate phenotypes using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequence data and microsatellite loci. We found a strong east–west partition in both marker types consistent with refugial populations. Within subspecies, structure was also observed at mtDNA while microsatellite data suggested the presence of only two distinct genetic clusters. The Western High Arctic (WHA) appears to be a secondary contact zone for both Atlantic and Pacific lineages as mtDNA and nuclear genotypes were assigned to both subspecies, and admixed individuals were observed in this region. The mtDNA sequence data outside WHA suggests no or very restricted intermixing between Atlantic and Pacific wintering populations which is consistent with published banding and telemetry data. Our study indicates that, although brant geese in the WHA are not a genetically distinct lineage, this region may act as a reservoir of genetic diversity and may be an area of high conservation value given the potential of low reproductive output in this species.

AbstractIt is reported that the magnitudes of flood events in riverine systems have been increasing due to global climate change. Because flood events could displace fish species downstream and/or increase the mortality of fish, it is important to know how the increased floods can affect fish in river networks. In this study, we focused a hatchery-raised amphidromous fish, Ayu Plecoglossus altivelis altivelis in a mainstem-tributary network in Japan and examined the relative fish abundance changes before and after the recordable massive flood using the environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis. We also examined the spatiotemporal patterns of the Ayu eDNA concentrations and the relationships with tributary discharge, width, and depth to examine if the relative abundance changes could be related to tributary size. Our results indicated that Ayu tended to inhabit large, deep tributaries more than small, shallow tributaries even after the flood event. Further, the eDNA concentrations of Ayu have decreased in most study sites after the flood; however, the eDNA concentrations in certain tributaries with lower tributary size have increased during the study period. These results suggest that (1) the habitat conditions could be important for the maintenance of Ayu populations before and after flood events, (2) increase in flood magnitude along climate changes could have impacts on Ayu populations, and (3) not only large tributary, but also small tributaries could be important habitats for the target species to avoid flood disturbances.