Biologically relevant environmental data: macros to make the most of microclimate recordings

The increased availability and use of automatic data loggers has made collection of microclimatic data cheap and easy. I present macros for the quantitative analysis and comparison of microclimatic (particularly temperature) data in the spreadsheet package Microsoft Excel. The macros presented will (1) collate maximum and minimum values of temperature (or other) cycles, (2) provide a count of the number of times a temperature recording crosses a given threshold, (3) measure the period of time spent above or below a given threshold, and (4) measure the rate of change of a data set as it approaches a threshold. A case study of the freeze tolerant grasshopper Sigaus australis (Orthoptera: Acrididae) and winter temperatures from its alpine habitat is used to demonstrate the macros.