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<p>Urban biodiversity is strongly shaped by local microclimates, a relationship that is especially pronounced in short-term urbanized areas undergoing early-stage forest succession. In such systems, forest clearance is often followed by early-stage restoration, which alters the extent to which habitats can buffer temperature extremes. Understanding how vegetation structure and habitat characteristics regulate microclimate is therefore essential for guiding restoration planning and enhancing biodiversity resilience. Using the Guangdong–Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, China as a model of short-term urbanization, we investigated microclimatic variation along an urban–rural gradient and evaluated the thermal buffering capacity of different habitat types. Air and ground temperatures were recorded by loggers installed across 18 sites classified as urban, suburban, or rural, and thermal buffering was quantified as the difference between air and ground temperatures (ΔT). To identify the environmental drivers of this gradient, we conducted a Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The analysis revealed that habitat differentiation and thermal buffering were driven primarily by landscape-scale vegetation attributes and associated temperature regimes, whereas local-scale microhabitat features such as canopy cover detail and leaf litter depth had comparatively weak influence. Urban sites formed a distinct cluster characterized by sparse vegetation cover and higher temperatures, while suburban and rural sites overlapped due to similar vegetation recovery trajectories. These results demonstrate that, in early-successional urban forests, landscape-scale vegetation cover is the dominant regulator of microclimatic buffering. Overall, the findings highlight the critical role of developing vegetation in providing microclimatic refugia and support restoration strategies that prioritize rapid establishment of continuous canopy cover.</p>

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Habitat buffering of under-canopy microclimate and ground temperature along urban–rural gradients in short-term urbanized area: a case study of Hengqin island

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月7日

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  • Xiangping Dong,
  • Siu-Tai Tsim,
  • Jill M.Y. Chiu,
  • Cristina S.C. Calheiros,
  • Xun Li,
  • Chi Man Leong

摘要

Urban biodiversity is strongly shaped by local microclimates, a relationship that is especially pronounced in short-term urbanized areas undergoing early-stage forest succession. In such systems, forest clearance is often followed by early-stage restoration, which alters the extent to which habitats can buffer temperature extremes. Understanding how vegetation structure and habitat characteristics regulate microclimate is therefore essential for guiding restoration planning and enhancing biodiversity resilience. Using the Guangdong–Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, China as a model of short-term urbanization, we investigated microclimatic variation along an urban–rural gradient and evaluated the thermal buffering capacity of different habitat types. Air and ground temperatures were recorded by loggers installed across 18 sites classified as urban, suburban, or rural, and thermal buffering was quantified as the difference between air and ground temperatures (ΔT). To identify the environmental drivers of this gradient, we conducted a Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The analysis revealed that habitat differentiation and thermal buffering were driven primarily by landscape-scale vegetation attributes and associated temperature regimes, whereas local-scale microhabitat features such as canopy cover detail and leaf litter depth had comparatively weak influence. Urban sites formed a distinct cluster characterized by sparse vegetation cover and higher temperatures, while suburban and rural sites overlapped due to similar vegetation recovery trajectories. These results demonstrate that, in early-successional urban forests, landscape-scale vegetation cover is the dominant regulator of microclimatic buffering. Overall, the findings highlight the critical role of developing vegetation in providing microclimatic refugia and support restoration strategies that prioritize rapid establishment of continuous canopy cover.