A Research Agenda for Microclimate Ecology in Human-Modified Tropical Forests

Abstract

Logging and habitat fragmentation impact tropical forest ecosystems in numerous ways, perhaps the most striking of which is by altering the temperature, humidity, and light environment of the forest-its microclimate. Because local-scale microclimatic conditions directly influence the physiology, demography and behavior of most species, many of the impacts of land-use intensification on the biodiversity and ecosystem functioning of tropical forests have been attributed to changes in microclimate. However, the actual pathways through which altered microclimatic conditions reshape the ecology of these human-modified ecosystems remain largely unexplored. To bridge this knowledge gap, here we outline an agenda for future microclimate research in human-modified tropical ecosystems. We focus specifically on three main themes: the role of microclimate in shaping (i) species distributions, (ii) species interactions, and (iii) ecosystem functioning in tropical forests. In doing so we aim to highlight how a renewed focus on microclimate can help us not only better understand the ecology of human-modified tropical ecosystems, but also guide efforts to manage and protect them.

Microclimate buffering and thermal tolerance across elevations in a tropical butterfly

“…where a large portion of the low and mid elevations have been converted to agricultural lands in the past three decades (Wasserstrom and Southgate, 2013). Any habitat change that affects forest heterogeneity could reduce its large temperature buffering potential (Blonder et al, 2018;Jucker et al, 2020), and butterfly diversity as a whole (Montejo-Kovacevich et al, 2018). Nevertheless, microclimates have been shown to recover decades after low impact land-uses (González del Pliego et al, 2016;Mollinari et al, 2019;Senior et al, 2018), allowing for recolonization of biodiversity (Hethcoat et al, 2019).…”

“…Extreme climatic events and increased daily climatic ranges may be more important determinants of the biological responses to climate change than temperature mean alone (Sheldon and Dillon, 2016). However, microclimates can buffer ambient temperatures and might act as refugia against such extremes (Jucker et al, 2020). This buffering could encourage shifts in forest vertical stratification across elevations, such that at higher elevations species may become more arboreal thanks to cooler canopies (Scheffers et al, 2014).…”

Localised climate change defines ant communities in human‐modified tropical landscapes

“…Thus, there is a large discrepancy between the widely held assumption that variation among species in their thermal tolerance underpins observed changes in the abundance of invertebrates after land‐use change, and the empirical knowledge base to support this. Testing this assumption requires a clear link to be established between invertebrate physiology, the degree of microclimate change that occurs following disturbance and the relative magnitude of the abundance changes exhibited by organisms that vary in their physiological constraints (Jucker et al, 2020; Tuff et al., 2016).…”

Microclimates can be accurately predicted across ecologically important remote ecosystems

“…These performance and logistical advantages are important even beyond the isolated polar regions because microclimate data are needed to underpin fundamental and applied ecological research across the breadth of terrestrial ecosystems and species groups (e.g. Jucker et al, 2020;Nowakowski, Frishkoff, Agha, Todd, & Scheffers, 2018). In particular, conservation strategies centred around identifying potential microrefugia have received much interest, especially for species that cannot track shifting climate niches or adapt in situ to changing climate conditions (Ashcroft, 2010;Wilson, Walters, Mayle, Lingner, & Vibrans, 2019).…”

“…Importantly, by understanding the role of microclimates in structuring biodiversitye.g. through effects on species physiology, demography, and behaviour-it may also be possible to modify landscapes to increase their climate change resilience (Jucker et al, 2020;Shoo et al, 2011). These research questions are most pressing given the stress that climate change is placing already placing on biodiversity (Descamps et al, 2017;Stephens et al, 2016).…”