scholarly journals Adaptive Phenotypic Plasticity for Life History and Less Fitness-Related Traits

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Acasuso-Rivero ◽  
Courtney J. Murren ◽  
Carl D. Schlichting ◽  
Ulrich K. Steiner
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Coefficient Of Variation ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Adaptive Plasticity ◽  
Variable Environments ◽  
Adaptive Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Taxonomic Groups ◽  
Adaptive Nature

ABSTRACTOrganisms are faced with variable environments and one of the most common solutions to cope with such variability is phenotypic plasticity, a modification of the phenotype to the environment. These modifications influence ecological and evolutionary processes and are assumed to be adaptive. The assumption of adaptive plasticity allows to derive the prediction that the closer to fitness a trait is, the less plastic it would be. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a meta-analysis of 213 studies and measured the plasticity of each reported trait as coefficient of variation (CV). Traits were categorised according to their relationship to fitness into life-history traits (LHt) including reproduction and survival related-traits, and non-life-history traits (N-LHt) including traits related to development, metabolism and physiology, morphology and behaviour. Our results showed, unexpectedly, that although traits differed in their amounts of plasticity, trait plasticity did not correlate with its proximity to fitness. These findings were independent of taxonomic groups or environmental types assessed and raise questions about the ubiquity of adaptive plasticity. We caution about generalising the assumption that all plasticity is adaptive with respect to evolutionary and ecological population processes. More studies are needed that test the adaptive nature of plasticity, and additional theoretical explorations on adaptive and non-adaptive plasticity are encouraged.

scholarly journals Adaptive phenotypic plasticity for life-history and less fitness-related traits

2019 ◽  
Vol 286 (1904) ◽  
pp. 20190653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Acasuso-Rivero ◽  
Courtney J. Murren ◽  
Carl D. Schlichting ◽  
Ulrich K. Steiner
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Adaptive Plasticity ◽  
Evolutionary Theories ◽  
Variable Environments ◽  
Adaptive Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Taxonomic Groups ◽  
Adaptive Nature

Organisms are faced with variable environments and one of the most common solutions to cope with such variability is phenotypic plasticity, a modification of the phenotype to the environment. These modifications are commonly modelled in evolutionary theories as adaptive, influencing ecological and evolutionary processes. If plasticity is adaptive, we would predict that the closer to fitness a trait is, the less plastic it would be. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a meta-analysis of 213 studies and measured the plasticity of each reported trait as a coefficient of variation. Traits were categorized as closer to fitness—life-history traits including reproduction and survival related traits, and farther from fitness—non-life-history traits including traits related to development, metabolism and physiology, morphology and behaviour. Our results showed, unexpectedly, that although traits differed in their amounts of plasticity, trait plasticity was not related to its proximity to fitness. These findings were independent of taxonomic groups or environmental types assessed. We caution against general expectations that plasticity is adaptive, as assumed by many models of its evolution. More studies are needed that test the adaptive nature of plasticity, and additional theoretical explorations on adaptive and non-adaptive plasticity are encouraged.

scholarly journals The Heritability of Behavior: A Meta-analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 110 (4) ◽  
pp. 403-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ned A Dochtermann ◽  
Tori Schwab ◽  
Monica Anderson Berdal ◽  
Jeremy Dalos ◽  
Raphaël Royauté
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Life History ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Behavioral Responses ◽  
Relative Effect ◽  
Biologically Relevant ◽  
Sources Of Variation ◽  
High Heritability ◽  
Relevant Factors

AbstractThe contribution of genetic variation to phenotypes is a central factor in whether and how populations respond to selection. The most common approach to estimating these influences is via the calculation of heritabilities, which summarize the contribution of genetic variation to phenotypic variation. Heritabilities also indicate the relative effect of genetic variation on phenotypes versus that of environmental sources of variation. For labile traits like behavioral responses, life history traits, and physiological responses, estimation of heritabilities is important as these traits are strongly influenced by the environment. Thus, knowing whether or not genetic variation is present within populations is necessary to understand whether or not these populations can evolve in response to selection. Here we report the results of a meta-analysis summarizing what we currently know about the heritability of behavior. Using phylogenetically controlled methods we assessed the average heritability of behavior (0.235)—which is similar to that reported in previous analyses of physiological and life history traits—and examined differences among taxa, behavioral classifications, and other biologically relevant factors. We found that there was considerable variation among behaviors as to how heritable they were, with migratory behaviors being the most heritable. Interestingly, we found no effect of phylogeny on estimates of heritability. These results suggest, first, that behavior may not be particularly unique in the degree to which it is influenced by factors other than genetics and, second, that those factors influencing whether a behavioral trait will have low or high heritability require further consideration.

Phenotypic plasticity and interpopulation differences in life history traits of Armadillidium vulgare (Isopoda:Oniscidae)

Oecologia ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 137 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Hassall ◽  
Alvin Helden ◽  
Timothy Benton
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Armadillidium Vulgare

Do species life history traits explain population responses to roads? A meta-analysis

2012 ◽  
Vol 147 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trina Rytwinski ◽  
Lenore Fahrig
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Population Responses

scholarly journals Adaptive phenotypic plasticity stabilizes evolution in fluctuating environments

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander M Lalejini ◽  
Austin J Ferguson ◽  
Nkrumah A Grant ◽  
Charles Ofria
Keyword(s):  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Evolutionary Change ◽  
Adaptive Plasticity ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Selective Sweeps ◽  
De Novo Mutations ◽  
Environmental Fluctuations ◽  
Adaptive Phenotypic Plasticity

Fluctuating environmental conditions are ubiquitous in natural systems, and populations have evolved various strategies to cope with such fluctuations. The particular mechanisms that evolve profoundly influence subsequent evolutionary dynamics. One such mechanism is phenotypic plasticity, which is the ability of a single genotype to produce alternate phenotypes in an environmentally dependent context. Here, we use digital organisms (self-replicating computer programs) to investigate how adaptive phenotypic plasticity alters evolutionary dynamics and influences evolutionary outcomes in cyclically changing environments. Specifically, we examined the evolutionary histories of both plastic populations and non-plastic populations to ask: (1) Does adaptive plasticity promote or constrain evolutionary change? (2) Are plastic populations better able to evolve and then maintain novel traits? And (3), how does adaptive plasticity affect the potential for maladaptive alleles to accumulate in evolving genomes? We find that populations with adaptive phenotypic plasticity undergo less evolutionary change than non-plastic populations, which must rely on genetic variation from de novo mutations to continuously readapt to environmental fluctuations. Indeed, the non-plastic populations undergo more frequent selective sweeps and accumulate many more genetic changes. We find that the repeated selective sweeps in non-plastic populations drive the loss of beneficial traits and accumulation of maladaptive alleles via deleterious hitchhiking, whereas phenotypic plasticity can stabilize populations against environmental fluctuations. This stabilization allows plastic populations to more easily retain novel adaptive traits than their non-plastic counterparts. In general, the evolution of adaptive phenotypic plasticity shifted evolutionary dynamics to be more similar to that of populations evolving in a static environment than to non-plastic populations evolving in an identical fluctuating environment. All natural environments subject populations to some form of change; our findings suggest that the stabilizing effect of phenotypic plasticity plays an important role in subsequent adaptive evolution.

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