relict community A community that formerly had a much wider distribution but now occurs only very locally. Such contraction can be caused by various factors including climatic change (e.g. glaciation). Communities widespread during glacial times may now be restricted to mountain tops (e.g. Upper Teesdale (England) contains an isolated flora characteristic of much of lowland Britain during glacial periods).

relict community A community that formerly had a much wider distribution but now occurs only very locally. Such contraction can be caused by various factors including climatic change, e.g. glaciation. Communities widespread during glacial times may now be restricted to mountain tops; e.g., Upper Teesdale (England) contains isolated flora characteristic of much of lowland Britain during glacial periods.