Biosphere Contents

5. Development

Microclimate - the localised climatic conditions experienced in a particular site - has a great influence on ecosystem condition

Forest floor and active surface

Microclimate tends to refer just to the 'active surface', the first few metres of air over the surface ground, water or vegetation. This layer could be 5 metres thick over water or bare ground or 50 metres thick above the ground surface in forested areas.

View of forest canopy

The microclimate of a site can be deliberately modified with shelter belts of trees and shrubs, either as linear structures or copses, to provide shelter for crops. This may involve living plant material, as in hedgerows, or dead, as in the bamboo fencing which shelters crops in the Camargue. The reductions in wind speed caused by trees are marked. Note that the height of the lowest branches of deciduous trees and especially in parkland stands (open woodlands where the lower branches are grazed) has a significant influence on the degree of reduction of wind speed at ground level.

What does the term microclimate refer to?