Comparison of ambient temperature variations at two elevations of Mount Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, 2016–2017 in relation to the El Niño event

• Elevation increases temperature variability during El Niño, underscoring local impacts of global climate events. • Higher elevations show pronounced maximum temperature variations during drought, highlighting elevation-dependent climate sensitivity. • Climate data loggers offer a scalable, cost-effective method for enhanced microclimate data collection in ecological research. Research into the responses of organisms to climate change relies on macroclimatic models based on the assumption that species respond primarily to large-scale climate regimes. However, fine-scale climate variation is crucial, especially for short-range organisms in tropical mountains, where habitat and microclimatic heterogeneity are high. This study presents temperature data from weather stations in open areas and from data loggers under tree canopies on Mount Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, recorded between 20 January 2016 and 15 June 2017, across an elevation gradient from 2600 m to 3300 m. We also recorded temperature variables during January to June 2016 and after the El Niño event (January to June 2017). Our results show that weather station and under-canopy records displayed broadly similar temperature patterns at corresponding elevations. The 2016 El Niño event had a significant warming effect, increasing the mean daily temperature by an average of 0.53 – 0.67°C across our study sites (p < 0.001) compared to the non-El Niño year of 2017. Linear Mixed-Effects models revealed a significant interaction between year and elevation: El Niño amplified daily maximum temperatures at higher elevations but reduced daily minimum temperatures. The microclimatic data collected in this study can be used as a basis for future studies and allow for quantitative, detailed comparisons.