CONCLUSION
Our experiments considered 1) realistic assemblages that allowed for species interactions and indirect climate effects, 2) multiple future climate scenarios, and 3) seasonality. Using realistic assemblages revealed that climate change affected understory assemblages largely via indirect interactions with a canopy-forming species. Including multiple future climate scenarios highlighted gradients in the response ofSilvetia assemblages to increasing climate severity. Lastly, repeating our mesocosm experiment and conducting field surveys during two time periods allowed us to assess the interaction between climate change and season. Canopy-understory interactions shape multiple communities outside of rocky intertidal habitats and it is likely for all three of the factors we tested in this experiment to be relevant for those communities. Incorporating realistic assemblages, climate scenarios, and seasonality will ultimately help better inform how important species and communities respond to climate change.