Publications by authors named "Stephen R Hardwick"
Article Synopsis
- Local forest microclimates significantly influence ecosystem composition, diversity, and function, making it crucial to understand their variations, especially in tropical areas affected by climate change and land-use transformation.
- A network of microclimate sensors was deployed in Borneo, ranging from old-growth forests to oil-palm plantations, to measure how factors like topography and canopy structure impact microclimate conditions across landscapes.
- Findings revealed significant local microclimate variation influenced by terrain and vegetation, with canopy height providing a moderating effect on temperature extremes, indicating that secondary forests still offer some thermal protection despite logging pressures. */
Article Synopsis
- Invertebrates like termites, ants, and beetles are super important in tropical rainforests because they help keep the ecosystem healthy and strong.
- Logging (cutting down trees) has harmed more than one-third of these forests, reducing the number of invertebrates by up to half, which affects how the forest works.
- Even though some other animals like small mammals and certain birds may increase after logging, the decline of important invertebrates shows that humans are changing how these rainforests operate.
Land use change is a major threat to biodiversity. One mechanism by which land use change influences biodiversity and ecological processes is through changes in the local climate. Here, the relationships between leaf area index and five climate variables - air temperature, relative humidity, vapour pressure deficit, specific humidity and soil temperature - are investigated across a range of land use types in Borneo, including primary tropical forest, logged forest and oil palm plantation.
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