Nature itself can be the best defense against climate change for many species — at least in the short term­ — according to a study published in the journal Ecology Letters from the University of California, Davis. The study found that natural habitats play a vital role in helping other plants and animals resist heat stresses ramping up with climate change — at least until the species they depend on to form those habitats become imperiled. This suggests a need to re-evaluate climate change predictions for many species, including predictions that species in the south will move north with global warming. The work focused on the rocky shoreline stretching from California’s Channel Islands to Washington’s Olympic National Park… But this study shows that, for some species, habitat is more important than latitude in protecting them from the effects of climate change.