Threatened Biodiversity in Australia Seeks Safe Havens from Climate Change

The climate is changing rapidly, which means that species also need to change and adapt. Now, scientists have taken a closer look at potential refugia in declining rainfall environments, which could show where species may migrate in order to escape harsh conditions.

"Global warming is a particular issue in Mediterranean-climate regions," said Grant Wardell-Johnson, one of the researchers, in a news release. "It is especially so in the flat landscapes of southwestern Australia-home to a global biodiversity hotspot."

In order to identify locations where flora and fauna could potentially survive changing conditions, the researchers used four-meter by four-meter plot-based data of vegetation profiles on and around granite outcrops across southwestern Australia. The researchers related vegetation types to soil depth and rainfall, and found a very strong relationship between all three. They then compared current climate and future climate under a continuing trend of reduced rainfall in the region.

"We found it very likely that some refugia will be found in sites receiving greatest water run-off below granite outcrops, as well as areas where a reduction in rainfall is offset by deeper soil," said Wardell-Johnson in a news release.

These findings reveal that there are sites where flora and fauna can retreat as the climate changes. Places with deeper soil could offset dry conditions. With that said, it's still likely that certain species will suffer from such drastic changes; yet at least there are some places that they may continue to have a foothold.

"Southwestern Australians have been living through the impacts of a drying climate for more than 40 years and are bracing for a continuing drier and warmer trend," said Wardell-Johnson in a news release. "Understanding where refugia will be is of particular importance in light of human-caused global warming, to offer the best chances for our precious flora and fauna in times of transformative change."

The findings are published in the journal PLOS One.