The 3D lab

The last week of August was marked in red and bold on many calendars: it was the week of the Microclimate Ecology & Biogeography conference, undoubtedly the most important event of the year for global microclimate research.

After this second edition—equally interesting, important, and inspiring as the first one—it’s safe to say that ‘MEB’ has become a tradition. From now on, every two years, the microclimate community will gather for a week of cutting-edge presentations, exhilarating discussions, and simply to enjoy each other’s company. And we’ll all return home better equipped to do even better science.

This blog post is to reflect on the science discussed: what has ME&B 2024 taught me about the state of our field? What have we learned since the last conference, and where are we heading next? Here are a few observations, loosely connected, but hopefully enough to spark inspiration!

Modelling Mayhem

First, and perhaps most significantly: there’s so much exciting progress in modelling! In both of the main categories—mechanistic and correlative models—things are moving rapidly. Mechanistic models are becoming faster, easier to use, more versatile, and more ambitious by the day, zooming in on specific organisms and scaling up to cover larger spatiotemporal extents. Riding the wave of increased computing power, possibilities are emerging that seemed far-fetched only a couple of years ago.

But correlative models are keeping pace. Particularly in machine learning, the conference showcased a wide array of new applications, many bigger, better, and bolder than before. Deep learning, for instance, has entered the fray, enabling analyses on increasingly larger datasets. This has finally opened the door to modelling the microclimates of the past and future, moving us closer to answering the biggest question of all: how fast is the microclimate changing?

Data, data, data!

The flow of microclimate data shows no signs of slowing down, either. We’re gathering bigger datasets, from more remote areas, and compiling them more efficiently (thank you, SoilTemp!). Smarter survey designs are helping us understand the globe’s microclimate in greater detail. I’m particularly happy to see increased standardization (thank you, TOMST!), but at the same time, creativity is flourishing. Take, for example, the fiber optic cable that measures temperature every 5 centimeters or so along its 50-meter length—such innovation is amazing to see.

We’re also becoming more careful with our sensor data, engaging in important discussions about what we’re actually measuring with a particular sensor, and how to make those measurements more relevant to the organisms we’re studying. We’re moving beyond simply acknowledging that things are complicated; we’re working on solutions and standardization.

From European forests to the globe

Global microclimate community? Absolutely. While European forest research clearly still leads the way, other regions and ecosystems are catching up. Tropical forests, for example, are gaining more in-situ sensors, fostering an increasingly vibrant research community and – as a result – a deepening understanding of those ecosystems.

But we went far beyond that at ME&B. The conference also saw the launch of a new Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine subsection, uniting cold-climate enthusiasts to bring our knowledge of these regions up to par with that of forests. We also witnessed perhaps the very first freshwater microclimate presentations, tentatively bridging the gap between terrestrial and aquatic microclimate research—fields with many parallels but just as many divergences. Drylands, urban areas, peatlands and more were represented, showcasing that each ecosystem needs its own perspective to tackle microclimate issues.

Of course, SoilTemp oversees all of this with a smile, and in the next two years, we’ll work on strengthening these diverse subfields and their interactions even further.

A growing community

Lastly, and perhaps the most heartening development: the microclimate community is coming together like never before. Collaborations are springing up everywhere, and endless enthusiastic conversations about research—over coffee, beer, blueberry juice, or vegetarian curry—fuel the spirit of the conference. Let’s keep those conversations going, as they are what keep us going!

Thanks, team Helsinki, for a fabulous conference!