The combined effects of local adaptation and phenotypic plasticity influencing plant. Phenotypic plasticity the ability of a single genotype to produce multiple phenotypes in response to variation in the environment is commonplace. For instance, plants from the same population usually grow taller in the longer growing season of low elevations than they do in the shorter growing season of high elevations. Through phenotypic plasticity, the plastic traits of individuals are modified without modifying the genetic diversity of the population. Phenotypic plasticity and ecotypic variations in growth. Phenotypic plasticity is the ability of an organism to change in response to stimuli or inputs from the environment. Few surveys have concentrated on studying the adaptive value of phenotypic plasticity within geneticallydistinct conspecific ecotypes.
Research article open access the adaptive value of. Recently, intensive study has shown that plants are plastic for a remarkable array of ecologically. Phenotypic plasticity is the ability of an organism to alter its phenotype in response to environmental influences, without altering its genome bateson et al. Phenotypic plasticity can operate jointly with ecotype formation and may further increase fitness. Phenotypic plasticity rather than locally adapted ecotypes allows the invasive alligator weed to colonize a wide range of habitats article pdf available in biological invasions 93. Adaptive versus nonadaptive phenotypic plasticity and the. Numerous authors have defined phenotypic plasticity box 1, and, at face value, these definitions seem fairly similar. When looking at the definition for polyphenism, it is typically described as a specialized type of phenotypic plasticity. The invasion of coastal areas in south china by ipomoea cairica may be accelerated by the ecotype being more locally adapted to salt stress, plos one. Find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. Most phenotypic plasticity in plants revolves around improving access to light, water, and nutrients as well as to increasing reproductive success. The truth about mobile phone and wireless radiation dr devra davis duration. Ecotypic variation and stability in growth performance of the. But phenotypic plasticity can influence the fitness of individuals 3, 4 and be the target of selection 57.
Phenotypic plasticity allows organisms to cope with environmental variation and may aid in the evolution of novel traits. The phenomenon is seen most clearly in plants, perhaps because they are fixed in the ground. However, whether phenotypic plasticity is beneficial, or if acclimation responses might be constrained to particular ecotypes is generally poorly explored. Intraspecific variation in rhinanthus angustifolius.
The adaptive value of phenotypic plasticity in two. Bradshaw recognized that phenotypic plasticity could itself be under genetic control and therefore subjected to selective pressure. What is phenotypic plasticity and why is it important. Depending on the nature and speed of the environmental change, either evolutionary rescue, plastic rescue or a combination of the two may. Or exaggerated by plastic responses to environmental variation phenotypic plasticity. The adaptive value of phenotypic plasticity in two ecotypes of a. The ability to pass changes from one generation to the next is a defining characteristic of evolution. This fundamental property of organisms is known as phenotypic plasticity. Figure shows number of publications per year up to december 20. This species has evolved canalized ecotypes but, nevertheless, the ecotypes show some phenotypic. Moderate levels of phenotypic plasticity may facilitate a populations expansion into novel environments as the trait may place the population on the slope of an adaptive peak from which natural selection can advance. The link between selection and phenotypic plasticity is analysed at the level of the individual. Phenotypic plasticitys impacts on diversification and. So, if a snail species could produce a thick shell if it ends up in a high wave action area, but will produce a thinner and less energetically expensive shell if it ends up in a more calm area, that is phenotypic plasticity.
Phenotypic plasticity is when the phenotype can be altered in response to the environment. Pdf selection and plasticity are two mechanisms that allow the adaptation of a. Although the question has usually been asked of examples of plasticity that seem particularly likely to be adaptive, the results of empirical tests. The consequences of phenotypic plasticity for ecological speciation x. Phenotypic plasticity and the discovery of the shape. Single genotypes can change their chemistry, physiology, development, morphology, or behavior or in response to environmental cues. Phenotypic plasticity of desiccation resistance in. Fundamental to the way in which organisms cope with environmental variation, phenotypic plasticity encompasses all types of environmentally induced changes e. Review phenotypic plasticity and evolution by genetic. Yet its evolutionary significance remains controversial, especially in regard to whether and how it impacts diversification and speciation.
In this paper we examine the role of phenotypic plasticity in adaptive evolution by contrasting different types of plasticity adaptive vs non. The adaptive value of phenotypic plasticity in two ecotypes of a marine gastropod article pdf available in bmc evolutionary biology 101. Does plasticity enhance or dampen phenotypic parallelism. The distinction between phenotypic plasticity and local adaptation of an ecotype is based primarily upon genetic analysis and transplantation experiments. Phenotypic plasticity, through its ecological effects, can facilitate evolutionary change and speciation. Phenotypic plasticity refers to the ability of a single genotype to generate a range of phenotypes based on environmental information incorporated into the process of development schlichting and pigliucci, 1998. Both phenotypic plasticity and locally adapted ecotypes may contribute to the success of invasive species in a wide range of habitats. This is ecotype and habitat specific, with the greatest plasticity in the resident habitat 31. The questionto what degree is phenotypic plasticity adaptivehas been studied intensively during the past 15 years, but it has been studied almost exclusively in plants and nonhuman animals. Research phenotypic plasticity of ecotypes across habitats dergipark.
Agrawal when individuals of two species interact, they can adjust their phenotypes in response to their respective partner, be they antagonists or mutualists. However, an organism that encounters an environment that fluctuates over time andor space may also respond by geneticallybased local. Basic concepts in phenotypic plasticity of forest trees jose climent. The intensity of selection for plasticity depends on the balance between a positive effect and.
View phenotypic plasticity research papers on academia. Plasticity is important because it is an encompassing model to understand life on earth, it can increase fitness, generate novelity, and facilitate evolution, it structures ecological communities, and it has numerous practical applications. This nonheritable change in the mustard seedling is called phenotypic plasticity, meaning that the organisms phenotype is flexible and can be influenced by the environment. This species has evolved canalized ecotypes but, nevertheless, the ecotypes show some phenotypic plasticity for the traits under divergent. Ecotype definition is a population of a species that survives as a distinct group through environmental selection and isolation and that is comparable with a taxonomic subspecies. Phenotypic plasticity of sun and shade ecotypes of. The most commonly discussed cost is that of maintaining the sensory and regulatory. Pdf ecotypes or phenotypic plasticitythe aquatic and. As a result, the potential contributions of phenotypic plasticity to parallelism and nonparallelism are rarely evaluated in a formal sense. To separate the phenotypic and genotypic components of variation in ecotypes, it is necessary to grow representatives from each ecotype under the same conditions. Pdf morphological and ecological differences of two forms of helosciadium repens are known and described in the literature. In particular, spatial genetic differentiation along climatic gradients has been documented for many species 6 8 as well as for ecotype formations 52, 6, 8.
Figure is based on data extracted from a topic search for phenotypic plasticity or. The costs and limits of phenotypic plasticity are thought to have important ecological and evolutionary consequences, yet they are not as well understood as the benefits of plasticity. Phenotypic plasticity, a scientific trend scientific literature has dealt with virtually all aspects and levels of plasticity in plants. Pdf what is phenotypic plasticity and why is it important. Genetic mechanisms that create phenotypic variation without altering the basepair nucleotide sequence of the genes alters expression rather than sequence. Interaction between these nonexclusive mechanisms must be considered if we are to understand population survival.
Ecology phenotypic plasticity in the interactions and evolution of species anurag a. Repeated phenotypic measures across time applying an index. Phenotypic plasticity is the ability of an organism to express different phenotypes depending on the biotic or abiotic environment. Plant phenotypic plasticity in response to environmental. In this paper we look at the role of genetic determination versus plastic response by comparing the protein expression profiles between two sympatric ecotypes adapted to different shore levels and habitats using twodimensional protein maps. Phenotypic parallelism could be enhanced by plasticity that causes stronger. Phenotypic plasticity is a ubiquitous feature of organismal development, so exposure to a novel environment is likely to cause many individuals in a population to look andor behave in new ways westeberhard 2003. Fisher and other 20th century evolutionary biologists lacked explanations for phenotypic plasticity. Pdf phenotypic plasticity, the capacity of a single genotype to exhibit variable phenotypes in different environments, is common in insects and is. Pdf phenotypic plasticity rather than locally adapted. Phenotypic plasticity in the interactions and evolution of. We are familiar with phenotypic plasticity from human populations. Kinnison, predatorinduced phenotypic plasticity of shape and behavior. Phenotypic plasticity an overview sciencedirect topics.
Pdf the adaptive value of phenotypic plasticity in two. We examined this question in a clonal population of invasive freshwater snails potamopyrgus antipodarum from the western united states by testing whether observed plasticity in life history traits conferred higher fitness across a range of temperatures. At least nine ideas exist regarding how plasticity may be costly or limited, but these have rarely been discussed together. This ecotype exhibits a high degree of phenotypic plasticity by increasing stem elongation in response to the low rfr ratio light signal. Sultan a single genotype can produce different phenotypes in different environments. The capacity for genetically similar organisms to alter their phenotypes form, behavior, appearance, etc. A very different question is whether phenotypic plasticity causes evolution or is a major evolutionary mechanism. Phenotypic plasticity refers to some of the changes in an organisms behavior, morphology and physiology in response to a unique environment. Phenotypic plasticity promotes persistence in a new environment. Phenotypic plasticity itself evolves, as does any other quantitative trait. The consequences of phenotypic plasticity for ecological. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. The role of phenotypic plasticity is increasingly being recognized in the field of evolutionary studies. Scheiner and goodnight show that there is no reason to believe that the selection of plastic and genetic variations need necessarily.
Disentangling the role of phenotypic plasticity and genetic divergence in contemporary ecotype formation during a biological invasion kay lucek,1,2,3 arjun sivasundar,1,2,4 and ole seehausen1,2 1department of aquatic ecology and evolution, institute of ecology and evolution, university of bern, baltzerstrasse 6, ch3012 bern, switzerland. Here, we conduct a test to assess the adaptive value that partial phenotypic plasticity may have for survival in the marine gastropod littorina saxatilis. In this paper we examine the role of phenotypic plasticity in adaptive evolution by contrasting different types of plasticity adaptive vs nonadaptive and how each may facilitate or constrain the process of adaptive evolution in new environments. Basic concepts in phenotypic plasticity of forest trees. Phenotypic plasticity rather than locally adapted ecotypes. Here, we conducted common garden experiments and molecular marker analysis to test the two alternative hypotheses. The concept of phenotypic plasticity is deceptively simple. Phenotypic plasticity for plant development, function and life history sonia e. Phenotypic plasticity has been defined as a change in the phenotype expressed by a single genotype in different environments. However, the devil is in the details, and we consider these details, below. Rethinking phenotypic plasticity and its consequences for. Existing models of the evolution of phenotypic plasticity cover many of the proposals in the literature about the role of phenotypic plasticity in evolution. I will extend existing models to cover adaptation to a novel environment, the appearance of ecotypes and possible covariation between.