Ecological restoration is increasingly used to conserve native species and regain ecosystem services. However, decades of research and applied restoration, restored prairie habitat often falls short of remnant prairie habitat in supporting species diversity and delivering ecosystem services. Between-species and within-species functional trait diversity likely contributes to successful restoration because it influences ecological patterns and the delivery of ecosystem services, but the mechanisms for this are not well understood. My research will provide a better understanding of how functional trait diversity between-species and within-species can be incorporated into planning and implementing restoration projects. I will study multiple plant populations and species native to prairie ecosystems under controlled environmental conditions in order to measure functional trait variability between and within species and answer the question-are the functional trait differences within-species significantly different from between-species functional trait differences?