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Article Dans Une Revue Science of the Total Environment Année : 2022

Maintaining forest cover to enhance temperature buffering under future climate change

Brett Scheffers
Ditte Marie Christiansen
Karen de Pauw
Leen Depauw
Sanne Govaert
Arndt Hampe
David Klinges
Camille Meeussen
Jérôme Ogée
Pieter Sanczuk
Thomas Vanneste
Lander Baeten
Pieter de Frenne

Résumé

Forest canopies buffer macroclimatic temperature fluctuations. However, we do not know if and how the capacity of canopies to buffer understorey temperature will change with accelerating climate change. Here we map the difference (offset) between temperatures inside and outside forests in the recent past and project these into the future in boreal, temperate and tropical forests. Using linear mixed-effect models, we combined a global database of 714 paired time series of temperatures (mean, minimum and maximum) measured inside forests vs. in nearby open habitats with maps of macroclimate, topography and forest cover to hindcast past (1970–2000) and to project future (2060–2080) temperature differences between free-air temperatures and sub-canopy microclimates. For all tested future climate scenarios, we project that the difference between maximum temperatures inside and outside forests across the globe will increase (i.e. result in stronger cooling in forests), on average during 2060–2080, by 0.27 ± 0.16 °C (RCP2.6) and 0.60 ± 0.14 °C (RCP8.5) due to macroclimate changes. This suggests that extremely hot temperatures under forest canopies will, on average, warm less than outside forests as macroclimate warms. This knowledge is of utmost importance as it suggests that forest microclimates will warm at a slower rate than non-forested areas, assuming that forest cover is maintained. Species adapted to colder growing conditions may thus find shelter and survive longer than anticipated at a given forest site. This highlights the potential role of forests as a whole as microrefugia for biodiversity under future climate change.
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Dates et versions

hal-03624480 , version 1 (13-05-2022)

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Emiel de Lombaerde, Pieter Vangansbeke, Jonathan Roger Michel Henri Lenoir, Koenraad van Meerbeek, Jonas Lembrechts, et al.. Maintaining forest cover to enhance temperature buffering under future climate change. Science of the Total Environment, 2022, 810 (151338), ⟨10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151338⟩. ⟨hal-03624480⟩
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