Microclimate

Definition

Microclimates are defined as the local climate conditions that organisms and ecosystems are exposed to. In terrestrial ecosystems, microclimates often deviate strongly from the climate representative of a large geographic region, the macroclimate (Kemppinen et al., 2024). For example, the temperature directly above a rainforest canopy might be modulated due to small scale variations in topography and aspect. The temperature above the canopy is typically several degrees higher than near the surface, the surface under a dense canopy tends to be cooler than unshaded surface spots, and temperatures generally decrease with elevation.

Many ecosystems have a high spatial variability of microclimates providing suitable habitats for a diverse range of species. Scales of microclimates typically range between 0.1-100 m horizontally, 10-100 m vertically, and seconds to minutes temporally (Bramer et al., 2018).

Implementation details

Two alternative microclimate implementations exist in the Virtual Ecosystem the simple abiotic model and the process-based abiotic model. Details of the actual equations used to simulate microclimate are to be found there.

We also provide more detailed explanation of what microclimate is and why it matters to ecological modelling, including description of the key factors influencing the microclimate of an ecosystem and the main processes that drive the energy, carbon, and water cycle.