*5.2.2. Low latitude ecotones as future refugia*

Hampe and Petit [122] suggest that southern (rear) edge of species ranges should deserve greater attention or at least should not be neglected compared to the more studied northern (poleward) expanding edge, as the rear-edge populations store the species' genetic diversity. This might be applied as analogue in case of greater transition zones serving as biodiversity hot spots. It is an interesting question whether low latitude transitional zones are the most important biodiversity hot spots serving as a refugium in future mass extinction.

Based on the estimation of the Late Quaternary glacial-interglacial climate displacement rate, Sandel et al. [123] concluded that high-velocity and unstable regions tend to have mainly widespread species which are resilient to climatic oscillations and have strong dispersal abilities. Their results show that during the Late Quaternary the northeastern part of North America and the north-central Eurasia had the highest velocity and the weakly dispersing amphibians were affected the most. They pointed out that low-velocity regions can be refuges for sessile and small-ranged species [123]. Many bird and mammal endemic species are concentrated in the Southern Hemisphere where a higher velocity of changes can be expected according to predictions [123].
