The Contribution of Tree Canopies to Microclimate in Urban and Karst Ecosystems in the Special Region of Yogyakarta
DOI:
10.29303/jpm.v20i8.10816Published:
2025-12-31Issue:
Vol. 20 No. 8 (2025): Special IssueKeywords:
Karst Ecosystem; Microclimate; Temperature, Tree Canopy; Urban Forest EcosystemArticles
Downloads
How to Cite
Downloads
Metrics
Abstract
Canopy trees play an important role in regulating the microclimate in various ecosystems. This research aims to study the contribution of tree canopy to the microclimate in urban ecosystems and karst ecosystems in the Special Region of Yogyakarta. Trees can affect the microclimate around them, in this case, the ambient temperature. Currently, development in Yogyakarta continues to expand, and green open spaces are being increasingly eroded. The reduction of forest cover and green open spaces in Yogyakarta impacts both the macro and micro environments in the region. Therefore, this study examines the contribution of trees to the ecosystem in terms of air temperature at heights of 1 meter and 10 meters above ground level, soil temperature, air humidity, soil moisture, light intensity, pH, and wind speed in urban and karst ecosystems. This research was conducted at the end of the dry season, in mid-September, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. After the data was collected and tabulated into a collective table containing all the raw data, it was then calculated for its mean and standard deviation, and displayed in the form of a histogram. To determine the differences in parameters between each location, a Least Significant Difference (LSD) test was conducted. Based on the research conducted, both in urban and karst ecosystems, the air temperature 10 meters above the ground (the area around the tree canopy) was lower than the air temperature 1 meter above the ground. The difference in air temperature around the canopy and far from the tree canopy reached 4°C (℃ ) to 10°C (℃ ). Overall, the average air temperature in karst ecosystems was higher than in urban ecosystems. This is due to the differences in the shapes and structures of the tree canopies in the two ecosystems. Trees in urban ecosystems have more diverse shapes and are denser than trees in karst ecosystems. This study proves that trees contribute to the microclimate by lowering the temperature.
References
R. Li, J. Niu, Y. Zhao, L. (Leon) Wang, X. Shi, and N. Gao, “Wind tunnel experiments on the aerodynamic effects of a single potted tree: Hot-wire anemometry and PIV measurements,” Urban Clim, vol. 62, Aug. 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.uclim.2025.102520.
R. Li et al., “Fast fluid dynamics simulation of the effect of a single tree canopy on microclimates considering variations in solar position,” Build Environ, vol. 286, Dec. 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2025.113698.
Isoralla, Tjut Sugandawaty Djohan, Alicya Inmas Maulidika, and Putry Agung, “Profil Hutan Pegunungan Kamojang, Jawa Barat,” Ekologia : Jurnal Ilmiah Ilmu Dasar dan Lingkungan Hidup, vol. 25, pp. 29–42, Apr. 2025, Accessed: Sep. 09, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://journal.unpak.ac.id/index.php/ekologia/article/view/11280
J. Díaz-Calafat et al., “From broadleaves to conifers: The effect of tree composition and density on understory microclimate across latitudes,” Agric For Meteorol, vol. 341, Oct. 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2023.109684.
S. Zhang, D. Landuyt, K. Verheyen, and P. De Frenne, “Tree species mixing can amplify microclimate offsets in young forest plantations,” Journal of Applied Ecology, vol. 59, no. 6, pp. 1428–1439, Jun. 2022, doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.14158.
M. Ehbrecht, P. Schall, C. Ammer, M. Fischer, and D. Seidel, “Effects of structural heterogeneity on the diurnal temperature range in temperate forest ecosystems,” For Ecol Manage, vol. 432, pp. 860–867, Jan. 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.foreco.2018.10.008.
G. R. Matlack, I. Khoury, and B. Naik, “Tree canopy macrostructure controls heating of asphalt pavement in a moist-temperate urban forest,” Urban Ecosyst, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 967–976, Jun. 2022, doi: 10.1007/s11252-022-01200-3.
I. J. Aalto, E. E. Maeda, J. Heiskanen, E. K. Aalto, and P. K. E. Pellikka, “Strong influence of trees outside forest in regulating microclimate of intensively modified Afromontane landscapes,” Biogeosciences, vol. 19, no. 17, pp. 4227–4247, Sep. 2022, doi: 10.5194/bg-19-4227-2022.
S. M. Mousavi, A. Jafari, S. Chegini, and I. Turunen, “CFD simulation of mass transfer and flow behaviour around a single particle in bioleaching process,” Process Biochemistry, vol. 44, no. 7, pp. 696–703, 2009, doi: 10.1016/j.procbio.2009.02.016.
R. Li et al., “Analyzing the impact of various factors on leaf surface temperature based on a new tree-scale canopy energy balance model,” Sustain Cities Soc, vol. 99, Dec. 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.scs.2023.104994.
A. Van den Bossche et al., “Microclimate of large solitary trees along rural-to-urban gradients across Europe,” Agric For Meteorol, vol. 370, Jul. 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2025.110585.
R. Richter, H. Ballasus, R. A. Engelmann, C. Zielhofer, A. Sanaei, and C. Wirth, “Tree species matter for forest microclimate regulation during the drought year 2018: disentangling environmental drivers and biotic drivers,” Sci Rep, vol. 12, no. 1, Dec. 2022, doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-22582-6.
B. Alam et al., “Different genotypes of Dalbergia sissoo trees modified microclimate dynamics differently on understory crop cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) as assessed through ecophysiological and spectral traits in agroforestry system,” Agric For Meteorol, vol. 249, pp. 138–148, Feb. 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2017.11.031.
J. Jia et al., “Vertical regulation of thermal stress by canopy structure in urban forests: The role of species composition,” Landsc Urban Plan, vol. 264, Dec. 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2025.105495.
J. Terschanski, M. H. Nunes, I. Aalto, P. Pellikka, C. Wekesa, and E. E. Maeda, “The role of vegetation structural diversity in regulating the microclimate of human-modified tropical ecosystems,” J Environ Manage, vol. 360, Jun. 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.121128.
R. El Youssef, S. Rosin-Paumier, and A. Abdallah, “Determination of the Unsaturated Hydraulic Parameters of Compacted Soil Under Varying Temperature Conditions,” Geotechnics, vol. 5, no. 2, Jun. 2025, doi: 10.3390/geotechnics5020038.
V. D. Cao and P. Kic, “Effect of shading with trees to improve local temperature conditions,” in Engineering for Rural Development, Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, 2019, pp. 1423–1429. doi: 10.22616/ERDev2019.18.N152.
X. Gao et al., “Influence of scale effect of canopy projection on understory microclimate in three subtropical urban broad-leaved forests,” Remote Sens (Basel), vol. 13, no. 18, Sep. 2021, doi: 10.3390/rs13183786.
L. Deng, X. Jia, W. Wang, and S. A. Hussain, “Revealing Impacts of Trees on Modeling Microclimate Behavior in Spaces between Buildings through Simulation Monitoring,” Buildings, vol. 12, no. 8, Aug. 2022, doi: 10.3390/buildings12081168.
L. Jing and Y. Liang, “The impact of tree clusters on air circulation and pollutant diffusion-urban micro scale environmental simulation based on ENVI-met,” in IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, IOP Publishing Ltd, Feb. 2021. doi: 10.1088/1755-1315/657/1/012008.
H. H. Li, Q. M. Pan, Y. Zhang, and S. H. Zhou, “Analysis and research on relevant evaluation system indicators by one-way analysis of variance based on least significant difference,” in ACM International Conference Proceeding Series, Association for Computing Machinery, Dec. 2022, pp. 186–192. doi: 10.1145/3584748.3584780.
Y. Cai et al., “Quantifying the impact of single-tree morphological characteristics on the vertical gradient cooling effect and human thermal comfort during summer,” Urban For Urban Green, vol. 107, May 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128789.
H. Ran, “3D Model-Based Simulation of Plum Tree Canopy Light Interception,” in Proceedings of 2025 International Conference on Smart Agriculture and Artificial Intelligence, SAAI 2025, Association for Computing Machinery, Inc, Oct. 2025, pp. 41–46. doi: 10.1145/3767624.3767631.
C. Leroy et al., “Virtual trees and light capture: A method for optimizing agroforestry stand design,” Agroforestry Systems, vol. 77, no. 1, pp. 37–47, 2009, doi: 10.1007/s10457-009-9232-z.
Z. Wu, P. Dou, and L. Chen, “Comparative and combinative cooling effects of different spatial arrangements of buildings and trees on microclimate,” Sustain Cities Soc, vol. 51, Nov. 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.scs.2019.101711.
Y. K. Amkieh, I. Y. El-Bastawissi, A. Afifi, and M. Felix, “The visualization of tree barriers as windbreaks in urban areas using the EDDY3D tool,” Journal of Chinese Architecture and Urbanism, vol. 7, no. 4, p. 7095, Mar. 2025, doi: 10.36922/jcau.7095.
Author Biographies
Isoralla Isoralla, Faculty of Infrastructure and Regional Technology, Institut Teknologi Sumatera
Tjut Djohan, Faculty of Biology, Universitas Gadjah Mada
Hazsriel Luthfi Dzaky, Faculty of Infrastructure and Regional Technology, Institut Teknologi Sumatera
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Isoralla Isoralla, Tjut Djohan, Hazsriel Luthfi Dzaky
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The following terms apply to authors who publish in this journal:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal first publication rights, with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License (CC-BY License) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and first publication in this journal.
2. Authors may enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., posting it to an institutional repository or publishing it in a book), acknowledging its initial publication in this journal.
3. Before and during the submission process, authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website), as this can lead to productive exchanges as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
