The genetics of phenotypic plasticity. X. Variation versus uncertainty

Scheiner, Samuel M.; Holt, Robert D.

doi:10.1002/ece3.217

Cited by 133 publications

(182 citation statements)

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“…We found that fluctuating or rapid directional environmental change strongly selected for plastic genotypes. This result is in accordance with previous modelling approaches [22,41,42], especially when environmental fluctuations are modelled to act after development but before selection [43]. In our model, increased plasticity allowed genotypes to produce phenotypes better matching the changing environmental conditions at each generation, hence showing a high potential for rapid adaptation to new environments.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

A heuristic model on the role of plasticity in adaptive evolution: plasticity increases adaptation, population viability and genetic variation

Gómez-Mestre

Jovani

2013

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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An ongoing new synthesis in evolutionary theory is expanding our view of the sources of heritable variation beyond point mutations of fixed phenotypic effects to include environmentally sensitive changes in gene regulation. This expansion of the paradigm is necessary given ample evidence for a heritable ability to alter gene expression in response to environmental cues. In consequence, single genotypes are often capable of adaptively expressing different phenotypes in different environments, i.e. are adaptively plastic. We present an individual-based heuristic model to compare the adaptive dynamics of populations composed of plastic or non-plastic genotypes under a wide range of scenarios where we modify environmental variation, mutation rate and costs of plasticity. The model shows that adaptive plasticity contributes to the maintenance of genetic variation within populations, reduces bottlenecks when facing rapid environmental changes and confers an overall faster rate of adaptation. In fluctuating environments, plasticity is favoured by selection and maintained in the population. However, if the environment stabilizes and costs of plasticity are high, plasticity is reduced by selection, leading to genetic assimilation, which could result in species diversification. More broadly, our model shows that adaptive plasticity is a common consequence of selection under environmental heterogeneity, and hence a potentially common phenomenon in nature. Thus, taking adaptive plasticity into account substantially extends our view of adaptive evolution.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

A heuristic model on the role of plasticity in adaptive evolution: plasticity increases adaptation, population viability and genetic variation

Gómez-Mestre

Jovani

2013

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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“…This finding is consistent with theoretical predictions that increased adaptive plasticity is selectively favoured in populations and metapopulations that encounter variable environments ( [68,86,[104][105][106][107][108] and references therein). This particular selective property may lead to a positive evolutionary feedback for greater invasiveness in non-native taxa that have sufficiently broad norms of reaction to survive their initial introduction.…”

Section: (B) Plasticity and Evolutionary Potentialsupporting

confidence: 91%

Invasions and extinctions through the looking glass of evolutionary ecology

Colautti

Alexander

Dlugosch

et al. 2017

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

114

102

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One contribution of 18 to a theme issue 'Human influences on evolution, and the ecological and societal consequences'. Invasive and endangered species reflect opposite ends of a spectrum of ecological success, yet they experience many similar eco-evolutionary challenges including demographic bottlenecks, hybridization and novel environments. Despite these similarities, important differences exist. Demographic bottlenecks are more transient in invasive species, which (i) maintains ecologically relevant genetic variation, (ii) reduces mutation load, and (iii) increases the efficiency of natural selection relative to genetic drift. Endangered species are less likely to benefit from admixture, which offsets mutation load but also reduces fitness when populations are locally adapted. Invading species generally experience more benign environments with fewer natural enemies, which increases fitness directly and also indirectly by masking inbreeding depression. Adaptive phenotypic plasticity can maintain fitness in novel environments but is more likely to evolve in invasive species encountering variable habitats and to be compromised by demographic factors in endangered species. Placed in an eco-evolutionary context, these differences affect the breadth of the ecological niche, which arises as an emergent property of antagonistic selection and genetic constraints. Comparative studies of invasions and extinctions that apply an eco-evolutionary perspective could provide new insights into the environmental and genetic basis of ecological success in novel environments and improve efforts to preserve global biodiversity.This article is part of the themed issue 'Human influences on evolution, and the ecological and societal consequences'.

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“…This can be studied with individual-based simulations, as was done for ER without phenotypic plasticity by, e.g. Holt et al [102], and more recently for evolving plasticity (but without demography leading to extinction) by Scheiner & Holt [35].…”

Section: Perspectives and Conclusion (A) Other Topics Of Interestmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenotypic plasticity in evolutionary rescue experiments

Chevin

Gallet

Gomulkiewicz

et al. 2013

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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138

155

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Population persistence in a new and stressful environment can be influenced by the plastic phenotypic responses of individuals to this environment, and by the genetic evolution of plasticity itself. This process has recently been investigated theoretically, but testing the quantitative predictions in the wild is challenging because (i) there are usually not enough population replicates to deal with the stochasticity of the evolutionary process, (ii) environmental conditions are not controlled, and (iii) measuring selection and the inheritance of traits affecting fitness is difficult in natural populations. As an alternative, predictions from theory can be tested in the laboratory with controlled experiments. To illustrate the feasibility of this approach, we briefly review the literature on the experimental evolution of plasticity, and on evolutionary rescue in the laboratory, paying particular attention to differences and similarities between microbes and multicellular eukaryotes. We then highlight a set of questions that could be addressed using this framework, which would enable testing the robustness of theoretical predictions, and provide new insights into areas that have received little theoretical attention to date.

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The genetics of phenotypic plasticity. X. Variation versus uncertainty

Cited by 133 publications

References 100 publications

A heuristic model on the role of plasticity in adaptive evolution: plasticity increases adaptation, population viability and genetic variation

A heuristic model on the role of plasticity in adaptive evolution: plasticity increases adaptation, population viability and genetic variation

Invasions and extinctions through the looking glass of evolutionary ecology

Phenotypic plasticity in evolutionary rescue experiments

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