Microclimate & Gradients

Microclimates within forests often diverge sharply from conditions recorded in nearby weather stations, buffering plants and animals against broader climatic extremes. Our research explores how canopy structure, topography, and forest management shape these local climates and their role in moderating ecological responses to global warming. By combining field measurements, remote sensing, and ecological modelling, we reveal how microclimate dynamics underpin resilience, biodiversity patterns, and ecosystem processes in both natural and human-modified forests.

Featured Publications

Microclimate moderates plant responses to macroclimate warming
Pieter De Frenne , Francisco Rodríguez-Sánchez, David A. Coomes, et al. –Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) (2021)
DOI:10.1073/pnas.131119011
Demonstrates that forest microclimates buffer understory plants from macroclimate warming, highlighting the importance of canopy cover in mitigating climate change impacts on biodiversity.

Forest microclimate dynamics drive plant responses to warming

Florian Zellweger, Pieter De Frenne, Jonathan Lenoir, Pieter Vangansbeke, Kris Verheyen, … David A. Coomes –Science (2020)
DOI:10.1126/science.aba688
Using a global dataset, this landmark study shows that fine-scale microclimate variation, rather than coarse climate averages, determines how forest plants respond to warming.

Canopy structure and topography jointly constrain the microclimate of human-modified tropical landscapes
Tommaso Jucker, Stephen R. Hardwick, Sabine Both, Dafydd M.O. Elias, Robert M. Ewers, David T. Milodowski, Tom Swinfield, David A. Coomes –Global Change Biology (2021)
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14415
Reveals how canopy openness and terrain interact to shape highly heterogeneous microclimates in tropical forests, influencing biodiversity and regeneration dynamics.

Microclimate variation and recovery time in managed and old-growth temperate forests
F. Máliš, K. Ujházy, L. Hederová, M. Ujházyová, L. Csölleová, … David A. Coomes, & F. Zellweger –Agricultural and Forest Meteorology (2020)
DOI:10.1016/j.agrformet.2023.109722
Compares managed and old-growth temperate forests, showing that logging and management strongly alter microclimate variability and lengthen recovery times.

Advances in Microclimate Ecology Arising from Remote Sensing
Florian Zellweger, Pieter De Frenne, Jonathan Lenoir, Duccio Rocchini, … David A. Coomes –Trends in Ecology & Evolution (2022)
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2018.12.012
Reviews how new remote sensing technologies are revolutionising microclimate ecology by enabling fine-scale mapping of thermal environments across forested landscapes.