Abstract. Diversification of ecology into subdisciplines that run from macroecology to landscape, community, and population ecology largely reflects its specialization on different segments of the spatial gradient over which recognizable ecological patterns and processes occur. In all these cases, the elemental units involved in the patterns and processes of interest to ecologists are individuals from the same or different species. No distinct flavor of ecology has yet emerged that focuses on patterns and processes revolving around the lowermost end of the spatial gradient, which in the case of plants corresponds to the within-individual domain. Intraindividual heterogeneity in organ traits, however, is quantitatively important and has multiple consequences for plant individuals, populations, and communities, and for animal consumers as well. This paper first provides an overview of current knowledge on plant traits that vary subindividually, the magnitude of subindividual variation, and its spatial patterning. Examples will then be presented on the consequences of subindividual variation for plants and animal consumers at individual, population, or community levels. Finally, the recently emerging links between genetics, epigenetics, subindividual variation, and population ecology will be illustrated using results on variation in seed size, a functional plant trait playing an important role in plant population dynamics. Further observational and experimental studies are needed which link ecological and phenotypic measurements of plants to their epigenetic and genetic characteristics, in order to understand the three-way relationships between subindividual variability, genetic features, and epigenetic mosaicism. Another proposed line of inquiry should focus on evaluating whether subindividual epigenetic mosaics eventually translate into epigenetically heterogeneous progeny, thus contributing to the maintenance of population and community functional diversity.

中文翻译：

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植物亚个体变异的生态学：模式、过程和前景

摘要。将生态学多样化为从宏观生态学到景观、社区和人口生态学的子学科，在很大程度上反映了其对空间梯度不同部分的专业化，可识别的生态模式和过程发生在这些部分。在所有这些情况下，生态学家感兴趣的模式和过程中涉及的基本单位是来自相同或不同物种的个体。尚未出现侧重于围绕空间梯度最下端旋转的模式和过程的独特生态学风格，在植物的情况下，这对应于个体内部域。然而，器官性状的个体内异质性在数量上很重要，对植物个体、种群和群落以及动物消费者都有多重影响。本文首先概述了目前关于亚个体变化的植物性状、亚个体变异的幅度及其空间模式的知识。然后将介绍有关植物和动物消费者在个体、群体或社区层面的亚个体变异后果的示例。最后，将使用种子大小变异的结果来说明遗传学、表观遗传学、亚个体变异和种群生态学之间最近出现的联系，种子大小是一种在植物种群动态中发挥重要作用的功能性植物性状。需要进一步的观察和实验研究，将植物的生态和表型测量与其表观遗传和遗传特征联系起来，以了解亚个体变异性、遗传特征、和表观遗传嵌合。另一个提议的研究方向应侧重于评估亚个体表观遗传镶嵌是否最终转化为表观遗传异质后代，从而有助于维持种群和群落功能多样性。