Conclusion

We established that most TMCFs sites that were evaluated face reductions in low-clouds at rates that are higher than those in other tropical regions. These reductions have a biogeographic component, suggesting that regional rather than global drivers may play an essential role in the decline of low-clouds. Our documented climatic trends beyond clouds also revealed that TMCFs are shifting to warmer environments at higher rates. Neotropical TMCFs are most likely to suffer the consequences of this climatic shift because these sites present pronounced reductions in low-clouds, precipitation, and VSWC, and significant increases in temperature, dew point, pressure, and PET. Considering these observations, the importance of regional and local drivers (e.g., deforestation, change of land use) associated with cloud regimes need further investigation to examine the causes and consequences of the observed trends. Many unknowns remain when predicting the effects of current cloud declines in the TMCFs. However, as future projections indicate increases in global warming (Diffenbaugh and Barnes, 2023), these trends will likely continue threatening the life that remains on them and the ecosystem services that they provide.