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Forest structure and composition alleviate human thermal stress

(2022) GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY. 28(24). p.7340-7352
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Abstract
Current climate change aggravates human health hazards posed by heat stress. Forests can locally mitigate this by acting as strong thermal buffers, yet potential mediation by forest ecological characteristics remains underexplored. We report over 14 months of hourly microclimate data from 131 forest plots across four European countries and compare these to open-field controls using physiologically equivalent temperature (PET) to reflect human thermal perception. Forests slightly tempered cold extremes, but the strongest buffering occurred under very hot conditions (PET >35 degrees C), where forests reduced strong to extreme heat stress day occurrence by 84.1%. Mature forests cooled the microclimate by 12.1 to 14.5 degrees C PET under, respectively, strong and extreme heat stress conditions. Even young plantations reduced those conditions by 10 degrees C PET. Forest structure strongly modulated the buffering capacity, which was enhanced by increasing stand density, canopy height and canopy closure. Tree species composition had a more modest yet significant influence: that is, strongly shade-casting, small-leaved evergreen species amplified cooling. Tree diversity had little direct influences, though indirect effects through stand structure remain possible. Forests in general, both young and mature, are thus strong thermal stress reducers, but their cooling potential can be even further amplified, given targeted (urban) forest management that considers these new insights.
Keywords
HEAT MITIGATION STRATEGIES, GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE, AREA INDEX, MICROCLIMATE, CLIMATE, COMFORT, CANOPY, TREES, MORTALITY, TEMPERATURE, Dr, Forest, forest microclimate, heat mitigation, heat stress, nature-based solution, physiologically equivalent temperature, thermal, comfort

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Citation

Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:

MLA
Gillerot, Loïc, et al. “Forest Structure and Composition Alleviate Human Thermal Stress.” GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, vol. 28, no. 24, 2022, pp. 7340–52, doi:10.1111/gcb.16419.
APA
Gillerot, L., Landuyt, D., Oh, R., Chow, W., Haluza, D., Ponette, Q., … Verheyen, K. (2022). Forest structure and composition alleviate human thermal stress. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, 28(24), 7340–7352. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16419
Chicago author-date
Gillerot, Loïc, Dries Landuyt, Rachel Oh, Winston Chow, Daniela Haluza, Quentin Ponette, Herve Jactel, et al. 2022. “Forest Structure and Composition Alleviate Human Thermal Stress.” GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 28 (24): 7340–52. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16419.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Gillerot, Loïc, Dries Landuyt, Rachel Oh, Winston Chow, Daniela Haluza, Quentin Ponette, Herve Jactel, Helge Bruelheide, Bogdan Jaroszewicz, Michael Scherer-Lorenzen, Pieter De Frenne, Bart Muys, and Kris Verheyen. 2022. “Forest Structure and Composition Alleviate Human Thermal Stress.” GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 28 (24): 7340–7352. doi:10.1111/gcb.16419.
Vancouver
1.
Gillerot L, Landuyt D, Oh R, Chow W, Haluza D, Ponette Q, et al. Forest structure and composition alleviate human thermal stress. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY. 2022;28(24):7340–52.
IEEE
[1]
L. Gillerot et al., “Forest structure and composition alleviate human thermal stress,” GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, vol. 28, no. 24, pp. 7340–7352, 2022.
@article{8767938,
  abstract     = {{Current climate change aggravates human health hazards posed by heat stress. Forests can locally mitigate this by acting as strong thermal buffers, yet potential mediation by forest ecological characteristics remains underexplored. We report over 14 months of hourly microclimate data from 131 forest plots across four European countries and compare these to open-field controls using physiologically equivalent temperature (PET) to reflect human thermal perception. Forests slightly tempered cold extremes, but the strongest buffering occurred under very hot conditions (PET >35 degrees C), where forests reduced strong to extreme heat stress day occurrence by 84.1%. Mature forests cooled the microclimate by 12.1 to 14.5 degrees C PET under, respectively, strong and extreme heat stress conditions. Even young plantations reduced those conditions by 10 degrees C PET. Forest structure strongly modulated the buffering capacity, which was enhanced by increasing stand density, canopy height and canopy closure. Tree species composition had a more modest yet significant influence: that is, strongly shade-casting, small-leaved evergreen species amplified cooling. Tree diversity had little direct influences, though indirect effects through stand structure remain possible. Forests in general, both young and mature, are thus strong thermal stress reducers, but their cooling potential can be even further amplified, given targeted (urban) forest management that considers these new insights.}},
  author       = {{Gillerot, Loïc and Landuyt, Dries and Oh, Rachel and Chow, Winston and Haluza, Daniela and Ponette, Quentin and Jactel, Herve and Bruelheide, Helge and Jaroszewicz, Bogdan and Scherer-Lorenzen, Michael and De Frenne, Pieter and Muys, Bart and Verheyen, Kris}},
  issn         = {{1354-1013}},
  journal      = {{GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY}},
  keywords     = {{HEAT MITIGATION STRATEGIES,GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE,AREA INDEX,MICROCLIMATE,CLIMATE,COMFORT,CANOPY,TREES,MORTALITY,TEMPERATURE,Dr,Forest,forest microclimate,heat mitigation,heat stress,nature-based solution,physiologically equivalent temperature,thermal,comfort}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{24}},
  pages        = {{7340--7352}},
  title        = {{Forest structure and composition alleviate human thermal stress}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16419}},
  volume       = {{28}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}

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