A glacial refugium (plural glacial refugia) is a geographic region which made possible the survival of flora and fauna during ice ages and allowed for post-glacial re-colonization.[1][2] Different types of glacial refugia can be distinguished, namely nunatak, peripheral, and lowland.[3] Glacial refugia have been suggested as a major cause of floral and faunal distribution patterns in both temperate and tropical latitudes.[4][5][6] With respect to disjunct populations of modern-day species, especially in birds,[7][8] doubt has been cast on the validity of such inferences, as much of the differentiation between populations observed today may have occurred before or after their restriction to refugia.[9][10] In contrast, isolated geographic locales that host one or more critically endangered species (regarded as paleoendemics or glacial relicts) are generally uncontested as bona fide glacial refugia.[11]
^Holderegger, R., Thiel-Egenter, C. (2009): A discussion of different types of glacial refugia used in mountain biogeography and phytogeography. Journal of Biogeography 36, 476-480.
^Klicka, John; Zink, Robert M. (1997-09-12). "The Importance of Recent Ice Ages in Speciation: A Failed Paradigm". Science. 277 (5332): 1666–1669. doi:10.1126/science.277.5332.1666. ISSN0036-8075.
^Colinvaux, P. A.; De Oliveira, P. E.; Bush, M. B. (2000-01-01). "Amazonian and neotropical plant communities on glacial time-scales: The failure of the aridity and refuge hypotheses". Quaternary Science Reviews. 19 (1–5): 141–169. Bibcode:2000QSRv...19..141C. doi:10.1016/S0277-3791(99)00059-1.
^Cite error: The named reference delcourt was invoked but never defined (see the help page).