Peer-reviewedCC BYTrends in Ecology & Evolution
Identifying marine climate refugia to advance climate-smart conservation
10 affiliations
- 1Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO, CSIC), Balearic Oceanographic Center, Group of Ecosystem Oceanography (GRECO), Palma, Balearic Islands, Spain; Hopkins Marine Station, Oceans Department, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA 93950, USA; School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA. Electronic address: [email protected]
- 2Hopkins Marine Station, Oceans Department, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA 93950, USA; MasKelp Foundation, Monterey, CA, USA
- 3Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA; Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
- 4Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO, CSIC), Balearic Oceanographic Center, Group of Ecosystem Oceanography (GRECO), Palma, Balearic Islands, Spain
- 5Marine Science Institute, University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), Santa Barbara, CA, USA; Moore Center for Science and Solutions, Conservation International, Arlington, VA, USA
- 6Arctic Research Center, Hokkaido University, 001-0021, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
- 7Arctic Research Center, Hokkaido University, 001-0021, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan; International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 99775, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA
- 8International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 99775, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA; National Biodiversity Future Centre (NBFC), Palermo, Italy
- 9Hopkins Marine Station, Oceans Department, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA 93950, USA; Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA, USA
- 10Hopkins Marine Station, Oceans Department, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA 93950, USA; MasKelp Foundation, Monterey, CA, USA; Centre for Biodiversity Conservation, School of the Environment, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia. Electronic address: [email protected]
Abstract
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.
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BibTeX
@article{sanzmartin2026identifying,
title = {{Identifying marine climate refugia to advance climate-smart conservation}},
author = {Marina Sanz‐Martín and Carolina Olguín‐Jacobson and Jessica A. Bolin and Carla Quiles-Pons and Isaac Brito‐Morales and Jorge García Molinos and Manuel Hidalgo and Irene D. Alabia and Elena Gissi and Mikaela Provost and Fiorenza Micheli and Nur Arafeh‐Dalmau},
journal = {Trends in Ecology \& Evolution},
year = {2026},
month = may,
doi = {10.1016/j.tree.2026.04.007},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2026.04.007},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Identifying marine climate refugia to advance climate-smart conservation
AU - Marina Sanz‐Martín
AU - Carolina Olguín‐Jacobson
AU - Jessica A. Bolin
AU - Carla Quiles-Pons
AU - Isaac Brito‐Morales
AU - Jorge García Molinos
AU - Manuel Hidalgo
AU - Irene D. Alabia
AU - Elena Gissi
AU - Mikaela Provost
AU - Fiorenza Micheli
AU - Nur Arafeh‐Dalmau
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/05/15
JO - Trends in Ecology & Evolution
DO - 10.1016/j.tree.2026.04.007
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2026.04.007
AB - 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.
SN - 0169-5347
SN - 1872-8383
ER -