Abstract

Climate refugia, sites where favorable climatic conditions allow species and ecosystems to persist during periods of unfavorable regional climate, have received considerable attention in the context of climate change adaptation. These climate refugia are expected to occur where topography or hydrological conditions buffer warmer and drier conditions of our warming planet. However, species and ecosystem persistence likely depend on refuge from multiple stressors beyond climate, such as wildfire, habitat fragmentation, and depletion of water sources. While there has been considerable progress to understand these domains in isolation, new frameworks that can integrate across multiple domains of refugia have been less well explored. Here we present a conceptual framework of refugia across domains to advance our understanding of the importance of refuges and also to inform land use decisions. By quantifying conditions for refugia as a continuous variable, we combined this with a metric of land use pressure to prioritize land acquisitions. For example, where stable refugia’ conditions spatially overlap across domains and land use demand is high, conservation planners may focus on land acquisition for strict protection. Our framework can advance understanding of the domains of refugia and can also generate actionable science in support of land use decisions that help maintain biodiversity and sustainable local communities in the context of climate change.