Individuals within natural populations can experience very different abiotic and biotic conditions across small spatial scales owing to microtopography and other micro-environmental gradients. Ecological and evolutionary studies often ignore the effects of micro-environment on plant population and community dynamics. Here, we explore the extent to which fine-grained variation in abiotic and biotic conditions contributes to within-population variation in trait expression and genetic diversity in natural plant populations. Furthermore, we consider whether benign microhabitats could buffer local populations of some plant species from abiotic stresses imposed by rapid anthropogenic climate change. If microrefugia sustain local populations and communities in the short term, other eco-evolutionary processes, such as gene flow and adaptation, could enhance population stability in the longer term. We caution, however, that local populations may still decline in size as they contract into rare microhabitats and microrefugia. We encourage future research that explicitly examines the role of the micro-environment in maintaining genetic variation within local populations, favouring the evolution of phenotypic plasticity at local scales and enhancing population persistence under global change.

中文翻译：

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小空间，大影响：气候变化下微环境变化对人口持续存在的贡献


由于微地形和其他微环境梯度，自然种群中的个体可以在小空间尺度上经历非常不同的非生物和生物条件。生态和进化研究常常忽视微环境对植物种群和群落动态的影响。在这里，我们探讨了非生物和生物条件的细粒度变异对自然植物种群性状表达和遗传多样性的种群内变异的影响程度。此外，我们还考虑良性的微生境是否可以缓冲某些植物物种的当地种群免受快速人为气候变化造成的非生物胁迫的影响。如果微型避难所能够在短期内维持当地人口和社区的生存，那么其他生态进化过程，例如基因流动和适应，就可以在长期内增强人口稳定性。然而，我们警告说，当地种群的数量可能仍会下降，因为它们会收缩到稀有的微生境和微避难所中。我们鼓励未来的研究明确地研究微环境在维持当地种群遗传变异方面的作用，有利于局部尺度表型可塑性的进化，并增强全球变化下种群的持久性。