Small-Scale Stabilizing Effect of Asynchrony in Vital Rate Responses to Climate in an Imperiled Dune Thistle.

Changes in population responses to climate are usually studied at broad spatial grains, such as across species ranges. Only a handful of studies have investigated how small-scale variation, for example driven by soil conditions and microtopography, can mediate the responses of population vital rates to climate. Here, we examine responses of vital rates to climate across five subpopulations occurring in coastal dune locations that range from the foredune to the backdune.