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Phenotypic plasticity and genetic adaptation are categorized as one of three main mechanisms that plants use to adapt to changes in their environment. Unlike genetic adaptation, which operates on the generational scale, plasticity can produce variation in traits within a single generation. Plasticity, often represented by intraspecific trait variation (ITV), may allow species to persist across a wider range of environments, resulting in greater resiliency. Higher temperature and moisture stress in montane communities related to the low snowfall of this past year presage the conditions that we expect to become more frequent in the future. Observing the reactions of plant species to these conditions is essential to advance our knowledge of the adaptation of vegetative communities. Across elevations, species may react to abiotic changes in different ways. By measuring the variability in plant height, leaf area, and specific leaf area for five species at ten sites across an elevational gradient in the Greater Crested Butte area, we investigate indicators of local adaptation and the potential climate resiliency within species. We conducted this study on five species - Frasera speciosa Douglas ex Griseb, Linum lewisii Pursh, Erigeron speciosus (Lindl.) DC., Festuca thurberi Vasey., and Castilleja septentrionalis Lindl – to assess ITV in plants with different growth habits, life cycles, and resource acquisition strategies. We assessed site and elevation differences in the three measured traits through separate analysis of variance (ANOVA). We also fitted 15 generalized mixed effects models to determine the relative effects of climatic, edaphic, and topographic variables on the three traits across the five species, accounting for site differences as a random effect. Our results showed that while there is significant trait variation between sites of the same species, elevation is not a significant driver of that variation. Edaphic variables had the most influence on trait values across the five species, but the intensity and direction of the relationship was species dependent. Precipitation had a more significant effect than other climatic variables. Within sites, precipitation seasonality had a significant positive effect on trait variance.
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