Forest & Nature Lab, Ghent University, Gontrode, Belgium.
UMR 7058 CNRS "Ecologie et Dynamique des Systèmes Anthropisés" (EDYSAN), Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens, France.
Glob Chang Biol. 2021 Jun;27(11):2279-2297. doi: 10.1111/gcb.15569. Epub 2021 Mar 16.
Forest microclimates contrast strongly with the climate outside forests. To fully understand and better predict how forests' biodiversity and functions relate to climate and climate change, microclimates need to be integrated into ecological research. Despite the potentially broad impact of microclimates on the response of forest ecosystems to global change, our understanding of how microclimates within and below tree canopies modulate biotic responses to global change at the species, community and ecosystem level is still limited. Here, we review how spatial and temporal variation in forest microclimates result from an interplay of forest features, local water balance, topography and landscape composition. We first stress and exemplify the importance of considering forest microclimates to understand variation in biodiversity and ecosystem functions across forest landscapes. Next, we explain how macroclimate warming (of the free atmosphere) can affect microclimates, and vice versa, via interactions with land-use changes across different biomes. Finally, we perform a priority ranking of future research avenues at the interface of microclimate ecology and global change biology, with a specific focus on three key themes: (1) disentangling the abiotic and biotic drivers and feedbacks of forest microclimates; (2) global and regional mapping and predictions of forest microclimates; and (3) the impacts of microclimate on forest biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in the face of climate change. The availability of microclimatic data will significantly increase in the coming decades, characterizing climate variability at unprecedented spatial and temporal scales relevant to biological processes in forests. This will revolutionize our understanding of the dynamics, drivers and implications of forest microclimates on biodiversity and ecological functions, and the impacts of global changes. In order to support the sustainable use of forests and to secure their biodiversity and ecosystem services for future generations, microclimates cannot be ignored.
森林小气候与森林外的气候形成鲜明对比。为了充分理解和更好地预测森林生物多样性和功能与气候和气候变化的关系，需要将小气候纳入生态研究中。尽管小气候对森林生态系统对全球变化的响应可能产生广泛影响，但我们对树冠内和树冠下的小气候如何调节生物对物种、群落和生态系统水平的全球变化的响应的理解仍然有限。在这里，我们回顾了森林小气候的时空变化如何源于森林特征、局部水量平衡、地形和景观组成的相互作用。我们首先强调并举例说明了考虑森林小气候对于理解森林景观中生物多样性和生态系统功能变化的重要性。其次，我们解释了宏观气候变暖（自由大气）如何通过与不同生物群落的土地利用变化相互作用来影响小气候，反之亦然。最后，我们在小气候生态学和全球变化生物学的界面上对未来研究途径进行了优先级排序，特别关注三个关键主题：（1） 分解森林小气候的非生物和生物驱动因素和反馈；（2） 全球和区域森林小气候的绘图和预测；（3） 在气候变化面前，小气候对森林生物多样性和生态系统功能的影响。在未来几十年，小气候数据的可用性将大幅增加，以空前的时空尺度描述与森林生物过程相关的气候变异性。这将彻底改变我们对森林小气候动态、驱动因素和影响生物多样性和生态功能的理解，以及对全球变化的影响。为了支持森林的可持续利用，并为子孙后代保障其生物多样性和生态系统服务，小气候不容忽视。
