The Story So Far...

This is just a quick post to sum up the information presented so far and to give you an idea of where I’ll be heading with the blog over the next few weeks.

1. Traditionally, it was assumed that temperate (mid-latitude) species were driven southwards by the cold climatic conditions that characterise glacial periods. It was from these Southern refugia, where the conditions were warm enough for them to survive, that they re-colonised the more Northern latitudes when the climate once again became more favourable.
   
2. Recent studies, such as the examples discussed in this blog, have shown this Southern refugial hypothesis to be incomplete (I don’t want to say incorrect here because this hypothesis does apply to some species). These studies have found evidence (in multiple forms) of certain temperate species surviving and re-colonising from more Northern refugia, backing up the cryptic Northern refugia hypothesis.
   
3. There has been a debate over whether the Northern refugial hypothesis is only applicable to temperate species, with scientists presenting evidence for high-latitude species existing and re-colonising from more northern refugia as well.

I think we can safely say that there is a consensus among many scientists about the existence of cryptic Northern refugia (debates over the details aside), so the next thing I want to focus on is the importance of these refugia, for example in generating biodiversity. I think it is also important for me to show how this research on cryptic Northern refugia ties in with one of the key environmental debates of our time; dealing with the effects of anthropogenic global warming. I want to examine how research into the past could be vital in predicting how certain species will respond to the inevitable climate change of the future, and see whether there’s anything we can do to help preserve them.