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3,484 results for “Plastic”
Data from: Plasticity and heritability of morphological variation within and between parapatric stickleback demes
The threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) has emerged as an important model organism in evolutionary ecology, largely due to the repeated, parallel evolution of divergent morphotypes found in populations having colonized freshwater habitats. However, morphological divergence following colonization is not a universal phenomenon. We explore this in a large-scale estuarine ecosystem inhabited by two parapatric stickleback demes, each physiologically adapted to divergent osmoregulatory environments (fresh vs. saline waters). Using geometric morphometric analyses of wild-caught individuals, we detected significant differences between demes, in addition to sexual dimorphism, in body shape. However, rearing full-sib families from each deme under controlled, reciprocal salinity conditions revealed no differences between genotypes and highly significant environmental effects. It is also noteworthy that fish from both demes were fully plated, whether found in the wild or reared under reciprocal salinity conditions. Although we found significant heritability for body shape, we also noted significant direct environmental effects for many latent shape variables. Moreover, we found little evidence for diversifying selection acting on body size and shape (QST). Nevertheless, uniform compressive variation did exceed neutral expectations, yet despite evidence of both allometry and genetic correlation with body length, we detected no correlated signatures of selection. Taken together, these results suggest that much of the morphological divergence observed in this system is the result of plastic responses to environmental variation rather than adaptive differentiation.
Data from: Gene expression plasticity evolves in response to colonization of freshwater lakes in threespine stickleback
Phenotypic plasticity is predicted to facilitate individual survival and/or evolve in response to novel environments. Plasticity that facilitates survival should both permit colonization and act as a buffer against further evolution, with contemporary and derived forms predicted to be similarly plastic for a suite of traits. On the other hand, given the importance of plasticity in maintaining internal homeostasis, derived populations that encounter greater environmental heterogeneity should evolve greater plasticity. We tested the evolutionary significance of phenotypic plasticity in coastal British Columbian postglacial populations of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) that evolved under greater seasonal extremes in temperature after invading freshwater lakes from the sea. Two ancestral (contemporary marine) and two derived (contemporary freshwater) populations of stickleback were raised near their thermal tolerance extremes, 7°C and 22°C. Gene expression plasticity was estimated for more than 14 000 genes. Over five thousand genes were similarly plastic in marine and freshwater stickleback, but freshwater populations exhibited significantly more genes with plastic expression than marine populations. Furthermore, several of the loci shown to exhibit gene expression plasticity have been previously implicated in the adaptive evolution of freshwater populations, including a gene involved in mitochondrial regulation (PPARAa). Collectively, these data provide molecular evidence that highlights the importance of plasticity in colonization and adaptation to new environments.
Data from: Does thermal plasticity align with local adaptation? – An interspecific comparison of wing morphology in sepsid flies
Although genetic and plastic responses are sometimes considered as unrelated processes, their phenotypic effects may often align because genetic adaptation is expected to mirror phenotypic plasticity if adaptive, but run counter to it when maladaptive. The magnitude and direction of this alignment has further consequences for both the tempo and mode of adaptation. To better understand the interplay between phenotypic plasticity and genetic change in mediating adaptive phenotypic variation to climate variability, we here quantified genetic latitudinal variation and thermal plasticity in wing loading and wing shape in two closely related and widespread sepsid flies. Common garden rearing of 16 geographical populations reared across multiple temperatures revealed that wing loading decreases with latitude in both species. This pattern could be driven by selection for increased dispersal capacity in the cold. However, although allometry, sexual dimorphism, thermal plasticity and latitudinal differentiation in wing shape all show similar patterns in the two species, the relationship between the plastic and genetic response differed between them. While latitudinal differentiation (south to north) mirrored thermal plasticity (hot to cold) in Sepsis punctum, there was no relationship in Sepsis fulgens. While this suggests that thermal plasticity may have helped to mediate local adaptation in S. punctum, it also demonstrates that genetic wing shape differentiation and its relation to thermal plasticity may be complex and idiosyncratic, even among ecologically similar and closely related species. Hence, genetic responses can, but do not necessarily, align with phenotypic plasticity induced by changing environmental selection pressures.
Data from: Salinity-induced phenotypic plasticity in threespine stickleback sperm activation
Phenotypic expression may be and often is influenced by an organism's developmental environment, referred to as phenotypic plasticity. The sperm cells of teleosts have been found to be inactive in the seminal plasma and are activated by osmotic shock for most fish species, through release in either hypertonic (for marine fish) or hypotonic (for freshwater fish) water. If this is the case, the regulatory system of sperm mobility should be reversed in salt and freshwater fish. We tested this hypothesis by first activating sperm of saltwater and freshwater populations of threespine stickleback in salt- and fresh water. The sperm from saltwater stickleback could be activated in either salinity, which matches the freshwater colonization history of the species, whereas the sperm from the freshwater population acted as predicted by the osmotic shock theory and was activated in freshwater only. As the freshwater population used here was calculated to be thousands of years old, we went on to test whether the trait(s) were plastic and sperm from freshwater males still could be activated in saltwater after individuals were exposed to saltwater. After raising freshwater stickleback in saltwater we found the mature males to have active sperm in both salt and freshwater. Further, we also found the sperm of wild-caught freshwater stickleback to be active in saltwater after exposing those mature males to saltwater for only two days. This illustrates that the ability for stickleback sperm to be activated in a range of water qualities is an environmentally induced plastic trait.
Data from: Personality, plasticity, and resource defense
In many animal taxa, behavior varies both among individuals (animal "personalities") and within individuals ("plasticity"). Personality and plasticity may co-vary if individuals differ in responsiveness to changes in their environment ("I × E" interaction). The nature and fitness implications of individual differences in behavioral plasticity in the wild are poorly understood. In territorial animals, fitness depends fundamentally on resource-defense behavior—their response to various threats from conspecific competitors. Such systems thus offer an ideal opportunity to investigate individual differences in behavioral plasticity. We used male superb fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus) to test for individual differences in the intensity and plasticity of territorial defense behavior. Using captive assays, we identified behavioral types on the basis of fast versus slow exploration of a novel environment (the "proactive–reactive" axis of behavior). Then we simulated territorial intrusions in the wild, using playback of experimentally manipulated songs that differed in trill length in a pair-wise design. Although previous work suggests that proactive individuals are more aggressive and less responsive than reactive individuals, we found no support for these differences in the context of territorial defense in the wild. Fast explorers (proactive) and slow explorers (reactive) responded equally aggressively to a simulated territorial intrusion overall. Furthermore, although fast explorers responded equally strongly to the two different playback stimuli, there was little evidence that slow explorers differentiated between the two stimuli, and this "I × E" interaction was not statistically significant. Further work is needed to determine the prevalence in the wild of personality-related differences in behavioral plasticity.
Data from: Spatially heterogeneous selection in nature favors phenotypic plasticity in anuran larvae
Theory holds that adaptive phenotypic plasticity evolves under spatial or temporal variation in natural selection. I tested this prediction in a classic system of predator-induced plasticity: frog tadpoles (Rana temporaria) reacting to predaceous aquatic insects. An outdoor mesocosm experiment manipulating exposure to Aeshna dragonfly larvae revealed plasticity in most characters: growth, development, behavior, and external morphology. I measured selection by placing 1927 tadpoles into enclosures within natural ponds; photographs permitted identification of the survivors 6–9 days later. Fitness was defined as a linear combination of growth, development, and survival that correlates with survival to age 2 in another anuran species. In enclosures with many predators, selection favored character values similar to those induced by exposure to Aeshna in mesocosms. The shift in selection along the predation gradient was strongest for characters that exhibited high predator-induced plasticity. A field survey of 50 ponds revealed that predator density changes over a spatial scale relevant for movement of individual adults and larvae: 17% of variation in predation risk was among ponds separated by tens to thousands of meters and 81% was among sites ≤10m apart within ponds. These results on heterogeneity in the selection regime confirm a key tenant of the standard model for the evolution of plasticity.
Data from: Phenotypic and genomic plasticity of alternative male reproductive tactics in sailfin mollies
A major goal of modern evolutionary biology is to understand the causes and consequences of phenotypic plasticity, the ability of a single genotype to produce multiple phenotypes in response to variable environments. While ecological and quantitative genetic studies have evaluated models of the evolution of adaptive plasticity, some long-standing questions about plasticity require more mechanistic approaches. Here, we address two of those questions: does plasticity facilitate adaptive evolution? And do physiological costs place limits on plasticity? We examine these questions by comparing genetically and plastically regulated behavioural variation in sailfin mollies (Poecilia latipinna), which exhibit striking variation in plasticity for male mating behaviour. In this species, some genotypes respond plastically to a change in the social environment by switching between primarily courting and primarily sneaking behaviour. In contrast, other genotypes have fixed mating strategies (either courting or sneaking) and do not display plasticity. We found that genetic and plastic variation in behaviour were accompanied by partially, but not completely overlapping changes in brain gene expression, in partial support of models that predict that plasticity can facilitate adaptive evolution. We also found that behavioural plasticity was accompanied by broader and more robust changes in brain gene expression, suggesting a substantial physiological cost to plasticity. We also observed that sneaking behaviour, but not courting, was associated with upregulation of genes involved in learning and memory, suggesting that sneaking is more cognitively demanding than courtship.
Data from: Plasticity through canalization: the contrasting effect of temperature on trait size and growth in Drosophila
In most ectotherms, a reduction in developmental temperature leads to an increase in body size, a phenomenon known as the temperature size rule (TSR). In Drosophila melanogaster, temperature affects body size primarily by affecting critical size, the point in development when larvae initiate the hormonal cascade that stops growth and starts metamorphosis. However, while the thermal plasticity of critical size can explain the effect of temperature on overall body size, it cannot entirely account for the effect of temperature on the size of individual traits, which vary in their thermal sensitivity. Specifically, the legs and male genitalia show reduced thermal plasticity for size, while the wings show elevated thermal plasticity, relative to overall body size. Here, we show that these differences in thermal plasticity among traits reflect, in part, differences in the effect of temperature on the rates of cell proliferation during trait growth. Counterintuitively, the elevated thermal plasticity of the wings is due to canalization in the rate of cell proliferation across temperatures. The opposite is true for the legs. These data reveal that environmental canalization at one level of organization may explain plasticity at another, and vice versa.
Data from: How stabilizing selection and nongenetic inheritance combine to shape the evolution of phenotypic plasticity
Relatively little is known about whether and how nongenetic inheritance interacts with selection to impact the evolution of phenotypic plasticity. Here, we empirically evaluated how stabilizing selection and a common form of nongenetic inheritance––maternal environmental effects––jointly influence the evolution of phenotypic plasticity in natural populations of spadefoot toads. We compared populations that previous field work has shown to have evolved conspicuous plasticity in resource-use phenotypes ('resource polyphenism') with those that, owing to stabilizing selection favouring a narrower range of such phenotypes, appear to have lost this plasticity. We show that: 1) this apparent loss of plasticity in nature reflects a condition-dependent maternal effect and not a genetic loss of plasticity; i.e., 'genetic assimilation', and 2) this plasticity is not costly. By shielding non-costly plasticity from selection, nongenetic inheritance generally, and maternal effects specifically, can preclude genetic assimilation from occurring and consequently impede adaptive (genetic) evolution.
Data from: A cross-seasonal perspective on local adaptation: metabolic plasticity mediates responses to winter in a thermal-generalist moth
The physiological and ecological impact of the thermal environment across life-stages can result in trade-offs that determine fitness and population dynamics. Understanding mechanisms and consequences of local adaptation for any organism that overwinters requires taking a cross-seasonal perspective. We used a trait-based approach to distinguish variation among ecotypes in ecological and physiological responses to overwintering conditions. We used fall webworms (Hyphantria cunea; Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) from Ottawa, Ontario and Columbus Ohio, representing the centre and periphery of the native range. We hypothesised that populations would be locally adapted to their overwintering environments, with fitness maximised under natal overwintering conditions. We predicted that this local adaptation would result from modulation of rates of energy use, growth and development. Each ecotype had higher overwinter survival in their natal compared to non-natal winter environment, and this was associated with larger pupal mass, size and carbohydrate reserves at the end of winter. This suggests that the ecotypes are locally adapted to winter conditions. Larger adults laid more eggs, but there was no effect of ecotype or environment on fecundity. Pupae overwintering at warm, energetically demanding southern temperatures suppressed metabolic rates in autumn, and developed more quickly in the spring, compensating for energetic demands of warmer winters. Northern ecotypes had lower thermal sensitivity of metabolism, leading to higher metabolic rates at cool temperatures that correlated with faster post-winter development. Local adaptation to winter conditions suggests performance of peripheral populations may not be enhanced by warming winters. Decoupling of winter and growing season temperatures may negatively impact ectotherms.
Phenotypic variability can promote the evolution of adaptive plasticity by reducing the stringency of natural selection
Adaptive phenotypic plasticity is a potent but not ubiquitous solution to environmental heterogeneity, driving interest in what factors promote and limit its evolution. Here a novel computational model representing stochastic information flow in development is used to explore evolution from a constitutive phenotype to an adaptively plastic response. Results show that populations tend to evolve robustness to developmental stochasticity, but this evolved robustness limits evolvability; specifically, robust genotypes have less ability to evolve adaptive plasticity when presented with a mix of both the ancestral environment and a new environment. Analytic calculations and computational experiments confirm that this constraint occurs when the initial mutational steps toward plasticity are pleiotropic, such that mutant fitnesses decline in the environment to which their parents are well-adapted. Greater phenotypic variability improves evolvability in the model by lessening this decline as well as improving the fitness of partial adaptations to the new environment. By making initial plastic mutations more palatable to natural selection, phenotypic variability can increase the evolvability of an innovative, plastic response without improving evolvability to simpler challenges such as a shifted optimum in a single environment. Populations that evolved robustness by negative feedback between the trait and its rate of change show a particularly strong constraining effect on the evolvability of plasticity, revealing another mechanism by which evolutionary history can limit later innovation. These results document a novel mechanism by which weakening selection could actually stimulate the evolution of a major innovation.
Data from: Life-history plasticity in female threespine stickleback
The postglacial adaptive radiation of the threespine stickleback fish (Gasterosteus aculeatus) has been widely used to investigate the roles of both adaptive evolution and plasticity in behavioral and morphological divergence from the ancestral condition represented by present-day oceanic stickleback. These phenotypes tend to exhibit high levels of ecotypic differentiation. Population divergence in life history has also been well studied, but in contrast to behavior and morphology, the extent and importance of plasticity has been much less well studied. In this review, we summarize what is known about life-history plasticity in female threespine stickleback, considering four traits intimately associated with reproductive output: age/size at maturation, level of reproductive effort, egg size and clutch size. We envision life-history plasticity in an iterative, ontogenetic framework, in which females may express plasticity repeatedly across each of several time frames. We contrast the results of laboratory and field studies because, for most traits, these approaches give somewhat different answers. We provide ideas on what the cues might be for observed plasticity in each trait and, when possible, we inquire about the relative costs and benefits to expressed plasticity. We end with an example of how we think plasticity may play out in stickleback life history given what we know of plasticity in the ancestor.
Data from: Cold adaptation increases rates of nutrient flow and metabolic plasticity during cold exposure in Drosophila melanogaster
Metabolic flexibility is an important component of adaptation to stressful environments, including thermal stress and latitudinal adaptation. A long history of population genetic studies suggest that selection on core metabolic enzymes may shape life histories by altering metabolic flux. However, the direct relationship between selection on thermal stress hardiness and metabolic flux has not previously been tested. We investigated flexibility of nutrient catabolism during cold stress in Drosophila melanogaster artificially selected for fast or slow recovery from chill coma (i.e. cold-hardy or -susceptible), specifically testing the hypothesis that stress adaptation increases metabolic turnover. Using 13C-labelled glucose, we first showed that cold-hardy flies more rapidly incorporate ingested carbon into amino acids and newly synthesized glucose, permitting rapid synthesis of proline, a compound shown elsewhere to improve survival of cold stress. Second, using glucose and leucine tracers we showed that cold-hardy flies had higher oxidation rates than cold-susceptible flies before cold exposure, similar oxidation rates during cold exposure, and returned to higher oxidation rates during recovery. Additionally, cold-hardy flies transferred compounds among body pools more rapidly during cold exposure and recovery. Increased metabolic turnover may allow cold-adapted flies to better prepare for, resist and repair/tolerate cold damage. This work illustrates for the first time differences in nutrient fluxes associated with cold adaptation, suggesting that metabolic costs associated with cold hardiness could invoke resource-based trade-offs that shape life histories.
Plasticity in male mating behavior modulates female life-history in fruit flies
In many species, intense male-male competition for the opportunity to sire offspring has led to the evolution of selfish reproductive traits that are harmful to the females they mate with. In the fruit fly, <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i>, males modulate their reproductive behavior based on the perceived intensity of competition in their pre-mating environment. Specifically, males housed with other males subsequently transfer a larger ejaculate during a longer mating compared to males housed alone. While the potential fitness benefits to males from such plasticity are clear, its effects on females are mostly unknown. Hence we tested the long-term consequences to females from mating with males with distinct social experiences. First, we verified that competitive experience influences male mating behaviour and found that males housed with rivals subsequently have shorter mating latencies and longer mating durations. Then, we exposed females every other day for 20 days to males that were either housed alone or with rivals and subsequently measured their fitness. We found that females mated to males housed with rivals produce more offspring early in life but fewer offspring later in life and have shorter lifespans but similar intrinsic population growth rates. These results indicate that plasticity in male mating behavior can influence female life-histories by altering females' relative allocation to early vs late investment in reproduction and survival.
Data from: Developmental instability is genetically correlated with phenotypic plasticity, constraining heritability, and fitness
Although adaptive plasticity would seem always to be favored by selection, it occurs less often than expected. This lack of ubiquity suggests that there must be trade-offs, costs, or limitations associated with plasticity. Yet, few costs have been found. We explore one type of limitation, a correlation between plasticity and developmental instability, and use quantitative genetic theory to show why one should expect a genetic correlation. We test that hypothesis using the Landsberg erecta × Cape Verde Islands recombinant inbred lines (RILs) of Arabidopsis thaliana. RILs were grown at four different nitrogen (N) supply levels that span the range of N availabilities previously documented in North American field populations. We found a significant multivariate relationship between the cross-environment trait plasticity and the within-environment, within-RIL developmental instability across 13 traits. This genetic covariation between plasticity and developmental instability has two costs. First, theory predicts diminished fitness for highly plastic lines under stabilizing selection, because their developmental instability and variance around the optimum phenotype will be greater compared to nonplastic genotypes. Second, empirically the most plastic traits exhibited heritabilities reduced by 57% on average compared to nonplastic traits. This demonstration of potential costs in inclusive fitness and heritability provoke a rethinking of the evolutionary role of plasticity.
Data from: Individual variation in parental care reaction norms: integration of personality and plasticity
Personality (consistent differences between individuals in behavior) and plasticity (changes within individuals in behavior) are often viewed as separate and opposing phenomena. We tested this idea by analyzing parental care reaction norms in a bird that exhibits biparental care. Personality in provisioning behavior existed (r ic=0.11) and persisted despite being reduced after accounting for individual differences in environment. Plasticity was also evident and differed between the sexes. Male visit rate was associated with changes in brood size and time of day, but female visit rate was associated with changes in nestling age and date. In both sexes changes in visit rate were positively correlated with changes in their partner's visit rate. Both sexes also exhibited multidimensional reaction norms; interaction terms revealed that within-individual visit rates increased more steeply with brood size when nestlings were older, and the effect of the partner's visit rate was sensitive to variation in date, precipitation, and the focal bird's age. Individuals also varied in how they responded (reaction norm slope) to changes in nestling age and partner visits. Moreover, parental personality was interdependent with individual plasticity in several ways. Individuals of both sexes with a high visit rate also responded more positively to changes in nestling age, and males also showed this pattern with changes in partner visit rate. Explicit use of the behavioral reaction norm integrated personality and plasticity, revealed that these are not opposing concepts, and stimulated new hypotheses about sexual conflict over care and provisioning as a life-history trait.
Data from: Transgenerational plasticity following a dual pathogen and stress challenge in fruit flies
Background: Phenotypic plasticity operates across generations, when the parental environment affects phenotypic expression in the offspring. Recent studies in invertebrates have reported transgenerational plasticity in phenotypic responses of offspring when the mothers had been previously exposed to either live or heat-killed pathogens. Understanding whether this plasticity is adaptive requires a factorial design in which both mothers and their offspring are subjected to either the pathogen challenge or a control, in experimentally matched and mismatched combinations. Most prior studies exploring the capacity for pathogen-mediated transgenerational plasticity have, however, failed to adopt such a design. Furthermore, it is currently poorly understood whether the magnitude or direction of pathogen-mediated transgenerational responses will be sensitive to environmental heterogeneity. Here, we explored the transgenerational consequences of a dual pathogen and stress challenge administered in the maternal generation in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Prospective mothers were assigned to a non-infectious pathogen treatment consisting of an injection with heat-killed bacteria or a procedural control, and a stress treatment consisting of sleep deprivation or control. Their daughters and sons were similarly assigned to the same pathogen treatment, prior to measurement of their reproductive success. Results: We observed transgenerational interactions involving pathogen treatments of mothers and their offspring, on the reproductive success of daughters but not sons. These interactions were unaffected by sleep deprivation. Conclusions: The direction of the transgenerational effects was not consistent with that predicted under a scenario of adaptive transgenerational plasticity. Instead, they were indicative of expectations based on terminal investment.
Data from: No geographic variation in thermoregulatory color plasticity and limited variation in heat-avoidance behavior in Battus philenor caterpillars
Phenotypic plasticity can help organisms cope with variation in their current environment, including temperature variation, but not all environments are equally variable. In the least variable or extreme environments, plasticity may no longer be used. In this case, the plasticity could be lost all together, or it could persist with either the same or an altered reaction norm, depending on factors such as the plasticity's costs. In the pipevine swallowtail caterpillar (Battus philenor), I tested for changes in two forms of heat-avoidance plasticity, color change and refuge-seeking behavior, across the species' range in the United states, including the cooler eastern parts of its range where color change has not been observed and is unlikely to be needed. I found that both heat-avoidance behavior and color change persisted in all surveyed populations. Indeed, the reaction norm for color change remained nearly unaltered, while the threshold for refuge-seeking only changed slightly across populations. These results suggest that the costs of these plastic traits are low enough for them to be maintained by whatever minimal gene flow the population receives. I show that plasticity can be maintained unaltered in populations where it is not used and discuss the potential consequences of this persistence for both the ecology and evolution of plasticity.
Egg-size plasticity in Apis mellifera: honey bee queens alter egg size in response to both genetic and environmental factors
<p>Social evolution has led to distinct life-history patterns in social insects, but many colony-level and individual traits, such as egg size, are not sufficiently understood. Thus, a series of experiments was performed to study the effects of genotypes, colony size, and colony nutrition on variation in egg size produced by honey bee (<i>Apis</i> <i>mellifera</i>) queens. Queens from different genetic stocks produced significantly different egg sizes under similar environmental conditions, indicating standing genetic variation for egg size that allows for adaptive evolutionary change. Further investigations revealed that eggs produced by queens in large colonies were consistently smaller than eggs produced in small colonies, and queens dynamically adjusted egg size in relation to colony size. Similarly, queens increased egg size in response to food deprivation. These results could not be solely explained by different numbers of eggs produced in the different circumstances but instead seem to reflect an active adjustment of resource allocation by the queen in response to colony conditions. As a result, larger eggs experienced higher subsequent survival than smaller eggs, suggesting that honey bee queens might increase egg size under unfavorable conditions to enhance brood survival, and to minimize costly brood care of eggs that fail to successfully develop, and thus conserve energy at the colony level. The extensive plasticity and genetic variation of egg size in honey bees has important implications for understanding life history evolution in a social context and implies this neglected life history stage in honey bees may have trans-generational effects.</p>
Data from: The alignment between phenotypic plasticity, the major axis of genetic variation and the response to selection
Phenotypic plasticity is the ability of a genotype to produce more than one phenotype in order to match the environment. Recent theory proposes that the major axis of genetic variation in a phenotypically plastic population can align with the direction of selection. Therefore, theory predicts that plasticity directly aids adaptation by increasing genetic variation in the direction favoured by selection and reflected in plasticity. We evaluated this theory in the freshwater crustacean Daphnia pulex, facing predation risk from two contrasting size-selective predators. We estimated plasticity in several life-history traits, the G matrix of these traits, the selection gradients on reproduction and survival, and the predicted responses to selection. Using these data, we tested whether the genetic lines of least resistance and the predicted response to selection aligned with plasticity. We found predator environment-specific G matrices, but shared genetic architecture across environments resulted in more constraint in the G matrix than in the plasticity of the traits, sometimes preventing alignment of the two. However, as the importance of survival selection increased, the difference between environments in their predicted response to selection increased and resulted in closer alignment between the plasticity and the predicted selection response. Therefore, plasticity may indeed aid adaptation to new environments.
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