(New Publication) Narrow thresholds of canopy disturbance determine the microclimate buffering potential of tropical forests

Tropical forests are highly diverse and are of significant conservation value. Yet, the continuing disturbance of these habitats, coupled with the effects of climate change, has profound impacts on microclimates and tropical forest organisms. In this study published in iScience, the authors investigated the microclimatic buffering capacity at the scale of functionally important invertebrates along a gradient of forest disturbance (quantified by canopy cover) in the Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystems (SAFE) project site.

Top: Amount of surface area exceeding CTmax of termites and ants with increasing canopy cover under three warming scenarios. Bottom: Predicted Understory surface temperature of forests with 60% and 80% canopy cover under a severe warming scenario. Source: Boyle et al. 2025

Through thermal imaging and surveys of various important taxa, such as ants, dung beetles, and moths, they compared the understory surface temperatures to the upper thermal limits (CTmax) of target invertebrate groups. In degraded forests with large reductions in canopy cover, understorey surface temperatures exceeded the CTmax of invertebrate groups. Conversely, forests that retained at least 80% of their canopy cover maintained their microclimate buffering potential.

These findings demonstrate that canopy disturbance significantly impacts microclimate buffering, and highlight the need to conseve tropical forests with high canopy cover to protect tropical forest organisms.

Read the full paper here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004225021972