FIGURE 1.

Assessing changes in assemblage function across microenvironment to identify differences in underlying ecological processes in the context of local environmental heterogeneity. (a) Environmental heterogeneity, often driven by differences in topography, differentiates assemblage function and phylogenetic diversity across a range of microenvironments, from those with more resources and/or less stressful conditions to those with less resources and/or more stressful conditions. The CWM of individual functional traits (Lavorel et al., 2008) provides insight into the overall functional strategy individuals in an assemblage utilize, while the functional dispersion in traits (Laliberté & Legendre, 2010) provides insight into the variation in strategies used and/or possible within a given set of environmental conditions. Life‐history strategies—annual/biennial, herbaceous perennial and woody perennial—potentially affect the relationships between these metrics and microenvironments. Additionally, SES _MNTD , calculated from the combined functional and phylogenetic distances between the most closely related pairs of species (Cadotte et al., 2013), shows whether phylogeny represents differences between species that were not accounted for in the traits we measured. Color coding of the functional metric text used throughout the figures. (b) We assessed these relationships at twenty‐six 1‐m² plots along the Right Hand Fork of the Logan River in northeast Utah (Simpson & Pearse, 2021). One plot was excluded from the final analysis because the temperature sensor was removed by wildlife disturbance (in white). Background grayscale shows elevation based on a 5‐m digital elevation model in meters (Utah Automated Geographic Reference Center, 2007).