Extinction risk from climate change is reduced by microclimatic buffering

Andrew J. Suggitt (), Robert J. Wilson (), Nick J. B. Isaac, Colin M. Beale, Alistair G. Auffret, Tom August, Jonathan J. Bennie, Humphrey Q. P. Crick, Simon Duffield, Richard Fox, John J. Hopkins, Nicholas A. Macgregor, Mike D. Morecroft, Kevin J. Walker and Ilya M. D. Maclean ()
Additional contact information
Andrew J. Suggitt: University of Exeter
Robert J. Wilson: University of Exeter
Nick J. B. Isaac: Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
Colin M. Beale: University of York
Alistair G. Auffret: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Tom August: Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
Jonathan J. Bennie: University of Exeter
Humphrey Q. P. Crick: Natural England
Simon Duffield: Natural England
Richard Fox: Butterfly Conservation
John J. Hopkins: University of Exeter
Nicholas A. Macgregor: Natural England
Mike D. Morecroft: Natural England
Kevin J. Walker: Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland
Ilya M. D. Maclean: University of Exeter

Nature Climate Change, 2018, vol. 8, issue 8, 713-717

Abstract: Abstract Protecting biodiversity against the impacts of climate change requires effective conservation strategies that safeguard species at risk of extinction1. Microrefugia allowed populations to survive adverse climatic conditions in the past2,3, but their potential to reduce extinction risk from anthropogenic warming is poorly understood3–5, hindering our capacity to develop robust in situ measures to adapt conservation to climate change6. Here, we show that microclimatic heterogeneity has strongly buffered species against regional extirpations linked to recent climate change. Using more than five million distribution records for 430 climate-threatened and range-declining species, population losses across England are found to be reduced in areas where topography generated greater variation in the microclimate. The buffering effect of topographic microclimates was strongest for those species adversely affected by warming and in areas that experienced the highest levels of warming: in such conditions, extirpation risk was reduced by 22% for plants and by 9% for insects. Our results indicate the critical role of topographic variation in creating microrefugia, and provide empirical evidence that microclimatic heterogeneity can substantially reduce extinction risk from climate change.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41558-018-0231-9

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