The ecological and evolutionary implications of microrefugia

Pleistocene microrefugia (or cryptic refugia) may be distinguished from macrorefugia (or conventional refugia) on the basis of two characteristics. First, microrefugia were smaller than macrorefugia and consequently supported smaller refugial populations. Second, microrefugia harboured less diverse biotic communities than macrorefugia. We propose that these characteristics have important implications for the ecology and evolution of species and...