Habitat structure modifies microclimate: an approach for mapping fine-scale thermal refuge

1. Contemporary techniques predicting habitat suitability under climate change projections often underestimate availability of thermal refuges. Habitat structure contributes to thermal heterogeneity at a variety of spatial scales, but quantifying microclimates at organism‐relevant resolutions remains a challenge. Landscapes that appear homogeneous at large scales may offer patchily distributed thermal refuges at finer scales. 2. We quantified the relationship between vegetation structure and the thermal environment at a scale relevant to small, terrestrial animals using a new approach for mapping fine‐scale thermal heterogeneity. We expected that vegetation would create attenuated microclimates and that the influence of vegetation structure would vary seasonally. We measured shrub volume, horizontal cover, and operative temperature (Te) in a sagebrush‐steppe habitat in Idaho, USA, at 534 microsites across two study sites of approximately 1 km2 each. We modeled relationships between habi...