relict community
A Dictionary of Ecology | 2004 | MICHAEL ALLABY | © A Dictionary of Ecology 2004, originally published by Oxford University Press 2004. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

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).

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/relict_community.aspx

These relict forests are critically important for maintaining ongoing ecological processes necessary for the survival of Madagascar’s unique biodiversity, which reflects the island’s geological history.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1257

We find that PiFl is recruiting abundantly and unexpectedly at low to high elevations in the White Mtns in diverse habitats, including cool ravines at low
elevations, into sagebrush meadows at mid-elevations, and extending above upper treeline in areas of relict bristlecone pine forests.

http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/publications/millar/posters/millar_...

Leaf gas exchange of understory spruce-fir saplings in relict cloud forests, southern Appalachian Mountains, USA.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17938120