Forest structure and composition alleviate human thermal stress

• Published in: Global change biology Vol. 28; no. 24; pp. 7340 - 7352
• Main Authors: Gillerot, Loïc, Landuyt, Dries, Oh, Rachel, Chow, Winston, Haluza, Daniela, Ponette, Quentin, Jactel, Hervé, Bruelheide, Helge, Jaroszewicz, Bogdan, Scherer‐Lorenzen, Michael, De Frenne, Pieter, Muys, Bart, Verheyen, Kris
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.12.2022; Wiley
• Subjects: Buffers; Canopies; Canopy; canopy height; Climate change; cold; Community composition; Composition; Cooling; Dr. Forest; Environmental Sciences; evergreen trees; Extreme cold; Extreme heat; Forest management; forest microclimate; Forests; Hazard mitigation; Health hazards; Heat; heat mitigation; Heat stress; Heat tolerance; human health; humans; Microclimate; nature‐based solution; physiologically equivalent temperature; Plant cover; Plant diversity; Plant species; Species composition; Species diversity; stand density; Stand structure; temperature; Temperature effects; Temperature perception; thermal comfort; Thermal stress; Urban forests; heat stress; heat mitigation; nature-based solution; Forest; physiologically equivalent temperature; forest microclimate; thermal comfort; Dr

Current climate change aggravates human health hazards posed by heat stress. Forests can locally mitigate this by acting as strong thermal buffers, yet potential mediation by forest ecological characteristics remains underexplored. We report over 14 months of hourly microclimate data from 131 forest...