Identifying marine climate refugia to advance climate-smart conservation

Climate change is impacting the ocean and the services it provides, but the rate of change is not spatially uniform. Some areas, known as marine climate refugia, are less impacted by climate change and, if conserved, can provide a promising climate adaptation strategy. In this review, we synthesize...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Sanz-Martín, Marina, Olguín-Jacobson, Carolina, Bolin, Jessica A., Quiles-Pons, Carla, Brito-Morales, Isaac, García Molinos, Jorge, Hidalgo, Manuel, Alabia, Irene D, Gissi, Elena, Provost, Mikaela M., Micheli, Fiorenza, Arafeh-Dalmau, Nur
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2026
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:dnet:digitalcsic_::fe82cce7ca3d8408e04cfe68c63f3f60
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/432197
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Climate exposure
Climate velocity
Ecological resilience
Habitat suitability
Marine climate refugia
Marine heatwaves
Descripción
Sumario:Climate change is impacting the ocean and the services it provides, but the rate of change is not spatially uniform. Some areas, known as marine climate refugia, are less impacted by climate change and, if conserved, can provide a promising climate adaptation strategy. In this review, we synthesize the processes that create refugia conditions and the scientific approaches used to identify them, which fall into three main categories: low climatic exposure, ecological resilience, and habitat suitability. These approaches are applied across levels of biological organization and multiple temporal and spatial scales, reflecting the dynamic nature of the ocean. We show that integrating these approaches into conservation and management can support climate-smart strategies to enhance ocean resilience and biodiversity under intensifying climate threats.