The Vulnerability of Tropical Ectotherms to Warming Is Modulated by the Microclimatic Heterogeneity

Most tropical ectotherms live near their physiological limits for temperature. Substantial ecological effects of global change are predicted in the tropics despite the low amplitude of temperature change. These predictions assume that tropical ectotherms experience air temperature as measured by weather stations or predicted by global circulation models. The body temperature of ectotherms, however, can deviate from ambient air when the organism samples the mosaic of microclimates at fine scales. The thermal heterogeneity of tropical landscapes has been quantified only rarely in comparison to temperate habitats, limiting our ability to infer the vulnerability to warming of tropical ectotherms. Here, we used thermal imaging to quantify the heterogeneity in surface temperatures across spatial scales, from the micro- up to landscape scale, at the top of an Inselberg in French Guiana. We measured the thermal heterogeneity at the scale of Clusia nemorosa leaves, by categorizing leaves in full sun versus leaves in the shade to quantify the microclimatic variance available to phytophagous insects. Then, we measured the thermal heterogeneity at the scales of the single shrub and the landscape, for several sites differing in their orientation toward the sun to quantify the microclimatic heterogeneity available for larger ectotherms. All measurements were made three times per day over four consecutive days. There was a high level of thermal heterogeneity at all spatial scales. The thermal variance varied between scales, increasing from the within-leaf surface to the landscape scale. It also shifted across the day in different ways depending on the spatial scale. Then, using a set of published data, we compared the critical temperature (CTmax) of neo-tropical ectotherms and temperature distributions. The portion of space above the CTmax varied substantially depending on spatial scale and taxa. Insects were particularly at risk at the surface of leaves exposed to solar radiation but not on shaded leaves. By contrast, ants tolerated elevated surface temperatures and can survive almost anywhere in the habitat. We suggest that the fine scale mosaic of microclimates in the tropics modulates the vulnerability of ectotherms to warming. By moving just a few meters, or even a few centimeters, small tropical ectotherms can radically change their microclimatic temperature and escape overheating.