Christina L. Richards

TL;DR: What is required to assess phenotypic plasticity at different levels is described and a new framework can be applied when testing both ecological or evolutionary oriented hypotheses, and therefore promises to bridge the gap between the two perspectives.

TL;DR: Ecologists should start using a combination of experimental approaches borrowed from ecological genetics, novel techniques to analyse and manipulate epigenetic variation, and genomic tools, to investigate the extent and structure of epigenetics variation within and among natural populations, as well as the interrelations between epigenetic variations, phenotypic variation and ecological interactions.

TL;DR: It is essential to link trait-based responses of invaders to changes in community and ecosystem properties, and this work suggests a functional trait framework for assessing per capita effects and, ultimately, impacts of invasive plants on plant communities and ecosystems.

TL;DR: Understanding the significance of epigenetics for plant ecology requires increased transfer of knowledge and methods from model species research to genomes of evolutionarily divergent species, and examination of responses to complex natural environments at a more mechanistic level.