Ad hoc instrumentation methods in ecological studies produce highly biased temperature measurements.

ABSTRACT: In light of global climate change, ecological studies increasingly address effects of temperature on organisms and ecosystems. To measure air temperature at biologically relevant scales in the field, ecologists often use small, portable temperature sensors. Sensors must be shielded from solar radiation to provide accurate temperature measurements, but our review of 18 years of ecological literature indicates that shielding practices vary across studies (when reported at all), and that ecologists often invent and construct ad hoc radiation shields without testing their efficacy. We performed two field experiments to examine the accuracy of temperature observations from three commonly used portable data loggers (HOBO Pro, HOBO Pendant, and iButton hygrochron) housed in manufactured Gill shie

SUBMITTER: Terando AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5723608 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature