Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 18, 2026

Preparation and Maintenance of Bioexclusion IsoPositive Cage Experiment for Human Fecal Transplantation into Germ-Free Mice
Published on: February 28, 2025
Microrefugia: Not for everyone
Kristoffer Hylander1, Johan Ehrlén, Miska Luoto
1Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, Stockholm University, 106 91, Stockholm, Sweden, kristoffer.hylander@su.se.
Abstract:
Microrefugia are sites that support populations of species when their ranges contract during unfavorable climate episodes. Here, we review and discuss two aspects relevant for microrefugia. First, distributions of different species are influenced by different climatic variables. Second, climatic variables differ in the degree of local decoupling from the regional climate. Based on this, we suggest that only species limited by climatic conditions decoupled from the regional climate can benefit from microrefugia. We argue that this restriction has received little attention in spite of its importance for microrefugia as a mechanism for species resilience (the survival of unfavorable episodes and subsequent range expansion). Presence of microrefugia will depend on both the responses of individual species to local climatic variation and how climate-forcing factors shape the correlation between local and regional climate across space and time.
Related Concept Videos
Fungal Phylum Microsporidia
Microbial Interactions: Parasitism
Deep Sea Microbial Ecology
Osmoregulation in Insects
Microenvironments
Habitat Fragmentation

