Kin discrimination in plants: overview and implications for population and community ecology

ABSTRACT

Following the discovery of identity discrimination, particularly self and kin discrimination amongst plant competitors, research on interplant interactions has advanced significantly within plant physiology and evolutionary ecology. This review synthesizes current knowledge on how both self and kin discrimination influence plant growth, resource allocation, defence, and reproduction. I highlight their ecological and evolutionary consequences for population dynamics, community structure, and multi‐trophic interactions. A key insight is that, under some circumstances, identity discrimination may shape the maintenance or erosion of genetic diversity by modulating competitive interactions and spatial genetic structure within populations. Finally, I present several open questions, such as how identity discrimination operates across gradients of plant competition and trophic levels, and propose a few testable hypotheses and experimental approaches regarding the role of competitive identity discrimination under natural settings.