Temperature is a fundamental driver of species distribution and ecosystem functioning. Yet, our knowledge of the microclimatic conditions experienced by organisms inside tropical forests remains limited. This is because ecological studies often rely on coarse-gridded temperature estimates representing the conditions at 2 m height in an open-air environment (i.e., macroclimate). In this study, we present a high-resolution pantropical estimate of near-ground (15 cm above the surface) temperatures inside forests. We quantify diurnal and seasonal variability, thus revealing both spatial and temporal microclimate patterns. We find that on average, understory near-ground temperatures are 1.6 °C cooler than the open-air temperatures. The diurnal temperature range is on average 1.7 °C lower inside the forests, in comparison to open-air conditions. More importantly, we demonstrate a substantial spatial variability in the microclimate characteristics of tropical forests. This variability is regulated by a combination of large-scale climate conditions, vegetation structure and topography, and hence could not be captured by existing macroclimate grids. Our results thus contribute to quantifying the actual thermal ranges experienced by organisms inside tropical forests and provide new insights into how these limits may be affected by climate change and ecosystem disturbances.

Associação SOS Amazônia Rio Branco AC 69 905 082 Brazil

Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragment Project CP 478 69067 375 Manaus AM Brazil

Department of Environmental Informatics Faculty of Geography Philipps Universität Marburg Deutschhausstrasse 12 35032 Marburg Germany

Department of Forest Botany Dendrology and Geobiocoenology Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology Mendel University in Brno Zemědělská 3 61300 Brno Czech Republic

Department of Geographical Sciences University of Maryland College Park MD 20742 USA

Department of Geosciences and Geography University of Helsinki P O Box 68 FI 00014 Helsinki Finland

Earth and Environmental Sciences Programme Faculty of Science The Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong China

Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences University of Life Sciences Prague Kamýcká 129 CZ 16521 Praha 6 Suchdol Prague Czech Republic

Faculty of Science University of South Bohemia Branisovska 1760 CZ 370 05 České Budějovice Czechia

Finnish Meteorological Institute P O Box 503 FI 00101 Helsinki Finland

Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences Zámek 1 CZ 252 43 Průhonice Czech Republic

Institute of Entomology Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences České Budějovice Branisovska 31 CZ 370 05 Czech Republic

Research Group Plants and Ecosystems University of Antwerp 2610 Wilrijk Belgium

School of GeoSciences University of Edinburgh Edinburgh EH8 9XP UK

State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology and Institute of Environment Energy and Sustainability The Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong China

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