Local microclimates can both amplify and mitigate extreme temperatures associated with climate change

Here we present the data (as an RData file) and associated analysis code (R file) for our manuscript titled ‘Local microclimates can both amplify and mitigate extreme temperatures associated with climate change’. The data presented was collected for the purpose of comparing highly local temperatures (microclimate temperatures from data loggers) with average ambient conditions (macroclimate temperatures, from a nearby weather station). We did this by deploying a network of simultaneously recording data loggers (iButtons) across a calcareous grassland nature reserve in Bedfordshire, UK (Totternhoe Quarry: 51.89209484165979, -0.5682086178746574), for a year in 2018-2019 and the summer of 2022. These recorded hourly air temperature conditions at three heights (2018-19: at 5 cm and 50 cm, 2022: 1 cm). We then calculated the difference between these temperatures and the temperatures recorded by a nearby weather station (microclimate offset: positive values = heat trap, negative values = cool refugia). We also recorded many environmental variables from the locations of each data logger (cardinal aspect, slope steepness, degree of shelter, vegetation type, vegetation height, and percentage bare ground) within 5 m of the logger. We used this data to compare how microclimate performance changed across different microhabitats, distances from the ground, and across air temperatures. Please note that the weather station data comes from the Met Office MIDAS Open database (Met Office 2019). Please see below for the full citation. This project was funded by the Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI) Evolution Education Trust (EET) Knowledge Studentship (EAJ), and a NERC Highlight topic grant (GLiTRS project NE?V007173/1) (AJB). The project was developed from an Isaac Newton Trust/Wellcome Trust ISSF/University of Cambridge Joint Research Grants Scheme grant (RG89529) (AJB and ECT). We would like to thank the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, and Northamptonshire and Peteroborough for permission to collect data at their sites. References Met Office (2019): Met Office MIDAS Open: UK Land Surface Stations Data (1853-current). Centre for Environmental Data Analysis, September 25 2024. http://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/uuid/dbd451271eb04662beade68da43546e1