Across Europe, red squirrels are found in coniferous forests and deciduous woodlands.  Populations are found in Spain and Italy, up to parts of Scandinavia, and into parts of Western Russia.  This distribution suggests that the red squirrel can cope with a variety of environmental / climatic conditions. Their diet consists mainly of tree seeds, complemented with insects, birds’ eggs and some fungi. Grey squirrels have replaced red squirrels in many parts of the UK. An important haven for red squirrels in the UK is the Isle of Wight, whose ‘isolation’ keeps the population away from the introduced American grey squirrels. The island has enough trees and hedgerows for the estimated population of some 3000+  red squirrels and for the population to grow. To investigate if red squirrels might be able to cope with a changing climate (warmer and drier summers, reduced rainfall etc), Alyson Buchanan of Bournemouth University has used computer climate models to assess whether the squirrels could survive in changed conditions (such as might occur with climate change).  The computer simulations revealed that it is likely that red squirrels can indeed cope with Temperature changes and Reduced rainfall  That is, the red squirrel has a natural ability cope with, or has a resilience to different climatic conditions.  Other factors are, of course,  important in determining the survival of populations, notably Habitat availability Disease e.g squirrel pox Competing species Positive conservation measures to help the red squirrel.