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Forests in northern Patagonia are increasingly exposed to climatic stressors, yet assessments often rely on coarse macroclimatic datasets that overlook fine-scale variation shaped by vegetation, topography, and exposure. This chapter synthesizes findings from the KLIMNEM project to demonstrate the ecological importance of forest microclimates and the limitations of relying solely on coarse-scale gridded data. A comparative analysis of CHELSA and WorldClim in the eastern Río Puelo watershed revealed substantial discrepancies in precipitation estimates, underscoring uncertainty in projections of future vegetation dynamics. Empirical measurements across the Río Manso Valley showed that vegetation structure, elevation, and slope orientation strongly shape local thermal regimes. Tall, closed-canopy Nothofagus pumilio forests consistently buffered temperature extremes compared to adjacent Nothofagus antarctica shrublands, with maximum differences exceeding 12 K during hot days. These contrasts intensified under extreme conditions, highlighting the dynamic role of vegetation in regulating microclimate. Spatial modelling approaches further demonstrated that microclimatic variation can be predicted at 30-m resolution using ground-based and satellite-derived variables, though predictive accuracy declined in winter due to data limitations. Overall, the results point to the importance of accounting for microclimatic diversity when assessing vulnerability and informing management strategies for Patagonian forests under climate change.

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Climate Variations Across Landscape Gradients of Northern Patagonian Andean Forests: Lessons from High-Resolution Climate Datasets and Microclimatic Records

  • 章节

  • 发表日期：

    2026年

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  • Jonas Fierke,
  • Alois Simon,
  • Birgitta Putzenlechner,
  • Ariel Neri Winter,
  • Juan Haridas Gowda,
  • Martin Kappas

摘要

Forests in northern Patagonia are increasingly exposed to climatic stressors, yet assessments often rely on coarse macroclimatic datasets that overlook fine-scale variation shaped by vegetation, topography, and exposure. This chapter synthesizes findings from the KLIMNEM project to demonstrate the ecological importance of forest microclimates and the limitations of relying solely on coarse-scale gridded data. A comparative analysis of CHELSA and WorldClim in the eastern Río Puelo watershed revealed substantial discrepancies in precipitation estimates, underscoring uncertainty in projections of future vegetation dynamics. Empirical measurements across the Río Manso Valley showed that vegetation structure, elevation, and slope orientation strongly shape local thermal regimes. Tall, closed-canopy Nothofagus pumilio forests consistently buffered temperature extremes compared to adjacent Nothofagus antarctica shrublands, with maximum differences exceeding 12 K during hot days. These contrasts intensified under extreme conditions, highlighting the dynamic role of vegetation in regulating microclimate. Spatial modelling approaches further demonstrated that microclimatic variation can be predicted at 30-m resolution using ground-based and satellite-derived variables, though predictive accuracy declined in winter due to data limitations. Overall, the results point to the importance of accounting for microclimatic diversity when assessing vulnerability and informing management strategies for Patagonian forests under climate change.