Where the wild things go: finding and creating refugia from climate change in Northern Britain

This project will identify variables that predict the microclimatic buffering potential of refugia. There will be a particular focus on rewilding sites, characterised by the removal or reduction of human intervention within the landscape. As species shift their range poleward and to higher altitudes with increasing global temperatures, scientists and land managers must work cohesively to assist migration and movement. To date, studies have focussed on the identification of landscape characteristics with high buffering capacity. These include increased forest canopy cover and water availability which can reduce temperatures and increase humidity; higher altitude which provides cooler regions within elevated landscapes, and topographical heterogeneity which provides cool-air pockets along a rugged terrain. These individual studies highlight the potential for refugia to form, yet we know little of how these buffers may interact to reinforce or dampen the effect of each other. Furthermore, we know little of the spatial and temporal mechanisms which drive refugial formation and microclimate conditions within rewilding sites.

Some of the research questions this PhD aims to address are:
1) Are the ameliorative effects of microclimate buffers' additive in nature, therefore more stable?
2) What impact do temporal or spatial scales have on the buffering potential of a landscape?
3) Are these buffers being considered and implemented into active rewilding projects as a means of reducing biodiversity loss in a warming world?