refugium

noun

re·fu·gi·um ri-ˈfyü-jē-əm

plural refugia ri-ˈfyü-jē-ə

: an area of relatively unaltered climate that is inhabited by plants and animals during a period of continental climatic change (such as a glaciation) and remains as a center of relict forms from which a new dispersion and speciation may take place after climatic readjustment

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The findings in this paper are broadly consistent with the idea that Spain was a refugium, and so one of the sources of the population of Northern Europe. —