This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: All over the world, from Oregon's old-growth forests to Queensland's eucalyptus groves, creatures depend on trees for shelter. A new analysis from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign suggests that as the climate destabilizes, the world's trees may become an even more important respite.
That's because the study finds trees everywhere buffer their animal tenants from temperature extremes. The work is published in the journal Forest Ecology and Management. "We've seen mass mortality events in both birds and bats in recent years due to extreme heat.
Our meta-analysis finds that, on average, tree cavities can stay 3–4 degrees Celsius cooler than the outside air, with some larger or deeper cavities staying up to 15 degrees cooler," said senior study author Joy O'Keefe, associate professor and wildlife Extension specialist in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences (NRES) and Illinois Extension, both part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at Illinois. Three or four degrees doesn't sound like a lot, but when the outside air approaches deadly extremes, that difference can keep cavity-dwelling animals alive. And not just on hot days.
Tree cavities also provide slightly warmer microclimates when it's cold, an especially important feature for some animals during gestation or when babies are left alone in the nest. O'Keefe and her collaborators have spent more than a decade studying natural and artificial roosts for bats, focusing much of their attention on the animals' ability to thermoregulate in various roost configurations. Among other insights, they've shown that natural roosts—tree cavities, peeling bark and other tree crevices—offer greater protection from temperature extremes than most artificial roosts.
Most of the team's work has taken place in the eastern half of the U.S., but temperature extremes are a global concern. They wondered: Do tree cavities offer the same thermal protections to arboreal animals everywhere? The answer could guide forest management decisions worldwide.
Conservation scientist and NRES graduate Katrina Cotten worked with O'Keefe to conduct the first global literature review and analysis of the temperature-buffering capacity of tree cavities. She extracted data from 36 relevant studies, spanning 65 years and five continents. If a study presented temperature differences inside and outside tree cavities, it went into Cotten's meta-analysis.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
