Research overview: elevation shifts and montane refugia for Sumatran tigers

With lowland forest largely converted, Sumatran tigers increasingly persist in hill and montane forest, raising questions about how warming will reshape these upland habitats. This overview surveys how climate change may shift the elevational distribution of forest types and prey, whether montane areas could serve as refugia, and the constraints that steep terrain and existing protected-area boundaries impose. It reviews the interaction between climate-driven shifts and the legacy of lowland deforestation that has already pushed tigers upslope. The synthesis frames upland forests as both a last refuge and an uncertain one, illustrating how prior habitat loss can leave a species poorly positioned to absorb additional climate-driven change.