Sweating the small stuff: microclimatic exposure and species habitat associations inform climate vulnerability in a grassland songbird community.

Abstract

Assessment of species' vulnerability to climate change has been limited by mismatch between coarse macroclimate data and the fine scales at which species select habitat. Habitat mediates climate conditions, and fine-scale habitat features may permit species to exploit favourable microclimates, but habitat preferences can also constrain their ability to do so. We leveraged fine-resolution models of near-surface temperature and humidity in grasslands to understand how microclimates affect climatic exposure and demographics in a grassland bird community. We asked: (i) Do species select favourable nest-site microclimates? (ii) Do habitat preferences limit the ability of species to access microclimates? (iii) What are the demographic consequences of microclimatic exposure? We found limited evidence that grassland birds select cooler microclimates, which may buffer eggs and nestlings from extreme heat. Instead, many species appeared constrained by vegetation preferences. While facultative generalists displayed flexibility to use denser vegetation that provided buffering from high temperatures (>39°C), most obligate species nested in more exposed microclimates. Nesting success in facultative species was not well explained by microclimate, but success in specialized grassland obligates declined with increasing microclimate temperatures. These findings illustrate how microclimate and habitat use can interact to influence the potential vulnerability of species to future climate change.