Cross‐scale facilitation: a framework for microclimate moderation of climate change

Abstract

There is widespread evidence that plants can facilitate associated species through microclimate moderation. These effects can act locally, by increasing vital rates via direct effects on the conditions experienced by the beneficiary, or at the landscape scale, by enhancing population persistence via environmental heterogeneity and connectivity. Despite linkages between microclimate moderation and the consequences of climate change, few frameworks apply the concepts of facilitation, connectivity, and heterogeneity through this lens. We highlight the utility of expanding current research on facilitators to better understand how their ability to buffer abiotic conditions, promote heterogeneity, and enhance connectivity could shape beneficiaries' response to climate change at multiple scales. We additionally suggest tools and methods for enhanced incorporation of facilitators into models of species response, centered around the integration of facilitator‐moderated microclimates and species responses with the goal of better defining the scenarios under which facilitators could mitigate the effects of climate change. As climates continue to change, the consequences of microclimate moderation at local and landscape scales will become increasingly important to predict, understand, and manage biodiversity response.