Many conservation planners and resource managers are extremely pressed for time, funding, staff, and other resources. This page is especially targeted towards those who want to apply the concept of climate change refugia to their work but are short on time. Scroll down for “TL;DR” climate change refugia information - like key concepts and guidelines - and tools (such as climate change refugia models).

Key Climate Change Refugia Concepts

What are climate change refugia? Climate change refugia are areas that …

1. remain relatively buffered from contemporary climate change …

2. over a period of time …

3. and enable persistence of valued physical, ecological, and socio-cultural resources.

It’s important to remember that no climate change refuge will last forever. A climate change refuge is a “slow lane” for biodiversity, allowing species more time to evolve and/or adapt to contemporary climatic changes.

Below is a diagram providing examples of climate refugia in a hypothetical mountain range and valley (Morelli et. al 2016)

How do I find climate change refugia? Various organizations and/or studies have mapped climate change refugia & climate resilient areas across the U.S. These maps vary in detail and scale, so you should use these maps to identify a general area to start with, and then identify specific refugias to focus on based on your specific goals and resource budget. For maps of these areas, go to the “Tools” page below.

1. Look for diverse landscapes. Diverse landscapes are likely to have diverse microclimates that can provide the climatic “stepping stones” for vulnerable species to use as the regional climate becomes more unfavorable to their survival.

2. Specific climate change refugia are more likely to be found in:

   1. Landforms with elevation gradients (e.g. mountains, hills), which create a diversity of microclimates and therefore potential climate change refugia

   2. “Convergent environments” (e.g. valley bottoms, local depressions, coves, sinks, basins, etc.), which accumulate water and soil (which helps retain water) (Dobrowski, 2011)

   3. Cold-Air Pooling (CAPs)

Who can I talk to and work with for more help on applying climate change refugia to my work? One great resource is the USGS’ national network of CASCs, or Climate Adaptation Science Centers. This is a partnership-driven program that teams scientists with resource managers and local communities to help people and ecosystems adapt to a changing climate.

• The CASC network is comprised of the National CASC (NCASC) and nine regional CASCs, covering the continental U.S., Alaska, Hawai'i, the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands, and the U.S. Caribbean. Each regional CASC is based out of a host university in their region and is comprised of multi-institution consortia including university and non-university partners.

• Find your regional CASC here!

• To search the entire USGS CASC for climate science tools and/or data, you can use the “CASC Project Explorer” (has both national and regional topics)