We tested empirically whether microclimate and relative timing of oviposition affected prediapause larval survival and development rates in the federally threatened Bay checkerspot butterfly, Euphydryas editha bayensis (Nymphalidae). Most mortality in Bay checkerspot butterflies occurs among prediapause larvae. Because phenology of the butterfly’s larval hostplant, Plantago erecta, has been tho...

Ecological responses to climate change may depend on complex patterns of variability in weather and local microclimate that overlay global increases in mean temperature. Here, we show that high-resolution temporal and spatial variability in temperature drives the dynamics of range expansion for an exemplar species, the butterfly Hesperia comma. Using fine-resolution (5 m) models of vegetation s...

The re-discovery of the urban environment as an important component of daily life induced an increased interest in methods for assessing the quality of open spaces with respect to their contribution to the quality of urban life. A wide range of studies ranging from field experiments up to the application of numerical models have been conducted in order to understand and predict the interactions...

Forest harvesting can increase solar radiation in the riparian zone as well as wind speed and exposure to air advected from clearings, typically causing increases in summertime air, soil, and stream temperatures and decreases in relative humidity. Stream temperature increases following forest harvesting are primarily controlled by changes in insolation but also depend on stream hydrology and ch...

The creation of gaps in forest canopies can dramatically change the microclimate and soil water balance which strongly influences the process of regeneration and biodiversity within forest ecosystems. Hence, understanding the microclimatic conditions in canopy gaps is a prerequisite in developing and improving techniques for forest management and conservation practices. However, information is ...

Recent impetus has been given to research concerning the relationship between biological systems and the microclimate. However, extensive and detailed microclimatological measurements have been made only for limited situations. It would be of great value if quantitative relationships could be obtained between the highly variable microclimate and the relatively homogeneous macroclimate. There ar...

Species are commonly segregated along gradients of microclimate and vegetation. I explore the question of whether segregation is the result of microhabitat partitioning (biotic effects) or choice of differing microclimates (abiotic effects). I explored this question for four ground-nesting bird species that are segregated along a microclimate and vegetation gradient in Arizona. Birds shifted po...

The surface pH of rat distal colonic mucosa and human rectal mucosa was measured in vitro using first a small pH electrode with a flattened tip. In buffer with pH 7.56 the mean rat colonic surface pH was 6.72. Lowering the buffer pH in steps resulted in a small fall in surface pH, the values being buffer pH 7.06 surface pH 6.64, buffer pH 6.58 surface pH 6.61 and finally buffer pH 6.09 surface ...

The use of greenhouses with controlled microclimate according to the plants needs is an important way to increase the production of fruits and vegetables and has recently become one of the hottest topics in precision agriculture. In order to know and to control the greenhouse microclimate, smart sensing nodes with wireless communication capabilities are recommended. As one of the promissory pro...

We compared the distribution of sympatric Ixodes scapularis Say and Amblyomma americanum (L.) within several suitable forested habitats at different spatial scales and characterized differences in microhabitat features accounting for the observed distribution of questing ticks. We used automatic data loggers placed in the shrub and litter layers to contrast mesoclimate and microclimate conditio...