The importance of tree genetic variability in the ability of forests to respond and adapt to environmental changes is crucial in forest management and conservation. Along with genetics, recent advances have highlighted “epigenetics” as an emerging and promising field of research for the understanding of tree phenotypic plasticity and adaptive responses. In this paper, we review recent advances in this emerging field and their potential applications for tree researchers and breeders, as well as for forest managers. First, we present the basics of epigenetics in plants before discussing its potential for trees. We then propose a bibliometric and overview of the literature on epigenetics in trees, including recent advances on tree priming. Lastly, we outline the promises of epigenetics for forest research and management, along with current gaps and future challenges. Research in epigenetics could use highly diverse paths to help forests adapt to global change by eliciting different innovative silvicultural approaches for natural- and artificial-based forest management.

中文翻译：

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林木表观遗传学的研究进展与前景

树木遗传变异性对森林应对和适应环境变化的能力的重要性在森林管理和保护中至关重要。随着遗传学的发展，最近的进展突显了“表观遗传学”是一种新兴的，有前途的研究领域，用于理解树的表型可塑性和适应性反应。在本文中，我们回顾了该新兴领域的最新进展及其对树木研究人员和育种者以及森林经营者的潜在应用。首先，在讨论表观遗传学对树木的潜力之前，我们先介绍它们在植物中的基础知识。然后，我们提出了树木表观遗传学的文献目录和概述，包括树木启动的最新进展。最后，我们概述了表观遗传学在森林研究和管理中的前景，以及当前的差距和未来的挑战。表观遗传学的研究可以通过为自然和人工森林管理引入不同的创新造林方法，来利用高度多样化的途径来帮助森林适应全球变化。