Multiplicity in unity

plant subindividual variation and interactions with animals

de Carlos M. Herrera · Publicada por primera vez en 2009

"Plants produce a considerable number of structures of one kind, like leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds, and this reiteration is a quintessential feature of the body plan of higher plants. But since not all structures of the same kind produced by a plant are identical[,] for instance, different branches on a plant may be male or female ..., a single plant genotype generally produces a multiplicity of phenotypic versions of the same organ. [This work] uses this subindividual variation to deepen our understanding of the ecological and evolutionary factors involved in plant-animal interactions. On one hand, phenotypic variation at the subindividual scale has diverse ecological implications for animals that eat plants. On the other hand, by choosing which plants to consume, these animals may constrain or modify plant ontogenetic patterns, developmental stability, and the extent to which feasible phenotypic variants are expressed by individuals. An innovative study of the ecology, morphology, and evolution of modular organisms, [this work] addresses ... the ways in which organisms have coevolved to cope with variable environments."--Rudolf Schmid in Taxon.