Changes in leaf area index by tropical forest transformation to plantations increase below-canopy surface temperatures

Climate change affects life in tropical landscapes by increasing temperatures, among other impacts. In addition, land transformation from forest to other land cover types typically increases temperatures of surfaces exposed to direct solar radiation. In rural areas, however, many organisms including humans live sheltered below canopies, but little is known about below-canopy surface temperatures. We assessed canopy leaf area index (LAI) and below-canopy surface temperatures in a landscape of rural lowland Sumatra, Indonesia. In this region, land-use trajectories in the past decades led from forest to monocultural plantations. We found that LAI varied more than 10-fold, with the highest values observed in forest and low values in rubber and oil palm plantations. Below-canopy surface temperatures increased significantly with decreasing LAI. A decrease in LAI by one unit (m2 leaf area per m2 ground area) increased ground surface temperature by 0.95 °C (confidence interval: 1.07–0.83 °C) around noon. Likewise, the temperatures measured on peoples’ cap or hijab surfaces under the canopy was strongly affected. For a light-brown hijab, the average noon surface temperature increased by 4.0 °C from forest to oil palm. Thus, in addition to climate warming, land transformation and associated declines in canopy LAI significantly increased below-canopy surface temperatures. Strategies for mitigating such potentially adverse temperature effects may include the integration of more and densely foliated trees into landscapes. [Display omitted] •Along a common trajectory of land transformation from tropical forest to rubber and oil palm plantations, canopy leaf area index (LAI) declined.•In the resulting landscape LAI per plot varied more than ten-fold.•A decrease in LAI by one unit increased the temperature of ground surface around noon by 0.95 °C, cap temperature by 1.58 °C and hijab temperature by 1.15 °C.•Thus, land conversion and associated declines in canopy LAI strongly increase the below-canopy surface temperatures.