U.S. Geological Survey researchers at UMass Amherst want to study places that fare better during climate change than the rest of the world.

In a new report, they say the data could help predict, protect and even forestall climate change’s effects on some animals and plants.

Researcher Toni Lyn Morelli of the Northeast Climate Science Center has dubbed these special places “climate change refugia.”

Click the audio player above to hear Morelli’s conversation with New England Public Radio’s Susan Kaplan.