Microclimate refugia site management strategies for biodiversity conservation

Biodiversity is predicted to be severely impacted by ongoing climate warming and extinctions are likely to occur even in the most optimistic future climate change scenarios. Many species are responding to these human induced changes in the environment by shifting ranges, declining and going extinct. Species are more likely to persist in parts of the range where there is microclimate variability and microclimate refugia sites. Our recent NERC-funded research showed that the use of anthropogenic habitats may influence movement strategies, behaviour and population trends of species. Understanding the characteristics of microclimate heterogeneity that help retain species in wider landscapes will be essential to design effective management actions that protect local populations where macroclimate conditions may become unsuitable.

This PhD project involves analysing existing movement data (www.movebank.org) across species ranges and collecting new tracking data for a model species (common kestrel Falco tinnunculus with resident populations across Europe and in areas exposed to extreme weather conditions), with state-of-the-art devices developed by Movetech telemetry, a collaborative project involving the supervisors (www.movetech-telemetry.com).

This project will (1) assess individual use of microclimate and habitat variability across species ranges; (2) identify behavioural responses to extreme weather; (3) quantify variability in microclimate specificity across species and (4) identify management actions that promote microclimate refugia sites.

This projects aims to determine habitat management actions that actively promote suitable microclimates and help retain species in wider landscapes for longer, by examining locations at the edges of species range it will be possible to design actions across species' current ranges.