Climatic change, refugia, and biodiversity: where do we go from here? An editorial comment

Climate change in the coming century will affect biodiversity at many biological levels, ranging from ecosystems to genes. Forecasting the effects of these changes, especially in the context of which species will be restricted to refugia and/ or prone to extinction, is taking on increasing importance. Enhanced integration of phylogeography with phylochronology, paleontological and geological data, and climate science (especially taking into account scales of climate change other than orbitally-induced glacial-interglacial cycles) is needed to more fully appreciate the genetic effects of past climate changes, and to help predict future fates of species.