Rock glaciers and related cold rocky landforms: Overlooked climate refugia for mountain biodiversity

Mountains are global biodiversity hotspots where cold environments and their associated ecological communities threatened by climate warming. Considerable research attention has been devoted to understanding the effects of alpine glacier snowfield recession. However, much less given identifying refugia in mountain ecosystems present-day environmental conditions will be maintained, at least near-term, as other habitats change. Around world, montane microbes, animals, plants live on, adjacent to, downstream rock glaciers related rocky landforms (CRL). These geomorphological features have overlooked literature despite being extremely common ranges worldwide with a propensity support stable for aquatic terrestrial biodiversity. CRLs responsive atmospheric warming than snowfields due insulating nature thermal inertia debris cover paired internal ventilation patterns. Thus, likely remain on landscape after melted, thereby providing longer-term habitat living them. Here, we show that act key ecosystems, offer guidelines incorporating into conservation practices, identify areas future research.