Infra‐red thermometry of alpine landscapes challenges climatic warming projections

摘要: Rough mountain terrain offers climatic conditions (niches) to plants and animals poorly represented by conventional climate station data. However, the extent which actual temperatures deviate from those of freely circulating atmosphere had never been assessed at a landscape level. Here, we quantify thermal life across topographically rich using combination (IR) imagery surface temperature with data large number miniature loggers buried 3 cm soil depth. The obtained six alpine (Alps) arctic-alpine slopes (Norway, Sweden, Svalbard) evidence persistent root zone 2-4 K above air during summer. Surface show strong positive (2-9 K) negative (3-8 deviations on bright days clear nights, respectively. As be expected, south oriented are warmer than west north but microclimatic variation sky was within all slopes, 8.4 ± 2.5 (mean SD) differences persisting over several hours per day along horizontal (i.e., equal elevation) transects. Life organisms thus strongly decoupled in free cannot reliably inferred both, temperate arctic latitudes. Microtopography can mimic elevational (or latitudinal) gradients very short distances. This is important context change because it shows that species do not necessarily need climb hundred meters elevation escape warmth. Quite often, few shift will do. For unable to, or too slow adapt climate, microhabitat mosaics offer both refuge habitats as well stepping stones atmospheric rise.