Glacial refugium

[11] Traditionally, the identification of glacial refugia has occurred through palaeoecological analysis, which examines fossil organisms and their remains to determine the origins of modern taxa.

Researchers in this case ultimately established the spread of forest trees from the mountainous southern fringe of Europe, which suggests that this area served as a glacial refugium during this time.

[13] A nunatak is a type of glacial refugium located on the snow-free, exposed peaks of mountains, which lie above the ice sheet during glaciations.

For example, using the amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) technique, researchers have inferred survival of Phyteuma globulariifolium in peripheral refugia in the European Alps.

In Europe, for example, researchers using allozyme analysis have been able to confirm the continuous distribution of Zygaena exulans in between the foothills of the Pyrenees and the Alps during the last ice age.