Because of these different degrees of coupling to ambient conditions, trees will be
affected to greater extent when temperatures change than low-stature vegetation. The
temperature of low-stature plants also varies greatly with topography (orientation to
the sun, slope, shelter), and microhabitats differing in temperature by several Kelvin
may be found within a meter from each other. These small-scale thermal mosaics
contrast with the common isotherm-oriented scenarios of those models that model
vegetation as driven by climatic changes or which simulate climatic change effects
on vegetation or with large-scale natural thermal gradients