title: Microhabitats in the tropics buffer temperature in a globally coherent manner.
abstract: Vegetated habitats contain a variety of fine-scale features that can ameliorate temperate extremes. These buffered microhabitats may be used by species to evade extreme weather and novel climates in the future. Yet, the magnitude and extent of this buffering on a global scale remains unknown. Across all tropical continents and using 36 published studies, we assessed temperature buffering from within microhabitats across various habitat strata and structures (e.g. soil, logs, epiphytes and tree holes) and compared them to non-buffered macro-scale ambient temperatures (the thermal control). Microhabitats buffered temperature by 3.9 °C and reduced maximum temperatures by 3.5 °C. Buffering was most pronounced in tropical lowlands where temperatures were most variable. With the expected increase in extreme weather events, microhabitats should provide species with a local layer of protection that is not captured by traditional climate assessments, which are typically derived from macro-scale temperatures (e.g. satellites). Our data illustrate the need for a next generation of predictive models that account for species' ability to move within microhabitats to exploit favourable buffered microclimates.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Tropical Biodiversity and Climate Change, School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University of North Queensland, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia schefbr0@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Brett R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Scheffers
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Republic of Singapore.
authors.forename: Theodore A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.affiliation: Centre for Tropical Biodiversity and Climate Change, School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University of North Queensland, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia.
authors.forename: Stephen E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, South Yorks S10 2TN, UK.
authors.forename: David P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Edwards
mesh_terms: D017753:Ecosystem; D013696:Temperature; D014329:Tropical Climate
keywords: behaviour; climate change; habitat; habitat shift; resilience; tropical