Climate Change Refugia: Strategies for Test and Stay Conservation

The climate change refugia concept has captured the attention of scientists, practitioners, and the public, in part because it offers some hope of maintaining current conditions, at least in some places and for the short term. Here I share examples of studies that have validated refugial hypotheses (‘tested’), encouraging resource managers to use conservation practices like restoration and improving connectivity to enable species to remain protected (‘stay’) in their current location. The ‘test and stay’ refugia concept remains one strategy in the climate adaptation suite of options, just as other global problems require more than one strategy to avoid catastrophe.