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The fitness costs of adaptation via phenotypic plasticity and maternal effects

The fitness costs of adaptation via phenotypic plasticity and maternal effects
The fitness costs of adaptation via phenotypic plasticity and maternal effects
1. Phenotypes are often environmentally dependent, which requires organisms to track environmental change. The challenge for organisms is to construct phenotypes using the most accurate environmental cue.
2. Here, we use a quantitative genetic model of adaptation by additive genetic variance, within- and transgenerational plasticity via linear reaction norms and indirect genetic effects respectively.
3. We show how the relative influence on the eventual phenotype of these components depends on the predictability of environmental change (fast or slow, sinusoidal or stochastic) and the developmental lag ? between when the environment is perceived and when selection acts.
4. We then decompose expected mean fitness into three components (variance load, adaptation and fluctuation load) to study the fitness costs of within- and transgenerational plasticity. A strongly negative maternal effect coefficient m minimizes the variance load, but a strongly positive m minimises the fluctuation load. The adaptation term is maximized closer to zero, with positive or negative m preferred under different environmental scenarios.
5. Phenotypic plasticity is higher when ? is shorter and when the environment changes frequently between seasonal extremes. Expected mean population fitness is highest away from highest observed levels of phenotypic plasticity.
6. Within- and transgenerational plasticity act in concert to deliver well-adapted phenotypes, which emphasizes the need to study both simultaneously when investigating phenotypic evolution.
adaptation, indirect genetic effect, maternal effect, phenotypic evolution, phenotypic plasticity, quantitative genetics
0269-8463
693-701
Ezard, Thomas H.G.
a143a893-07d0-4673-a2dd-cea2cd7e1374
Prizak, Roshan
4c48bf45-e6c0-4faa-ae40-18b399ad1d83
Hoyle, Rebecca B.
e980d6a8-b750-491b-be13-84d695f8b8a1
Ezard, Thomas H.G.
a143a893-07d0-4673-a2dd-cea2cd7e1374
Prizak, Roshan
4c48bf45-e6c0-4faa-ae40-18b399ad1d83
Hoyle, Rebecca B.
e980d6a8-b750-491b-be13-84d695f8b8a1

Ezard, Thomas H.G., Prizak, Roshan and Hoyle, Rebecca B. (2014) The fitness costs of adaptation via phenotypic plasticity and maternal effects. Functional Ecology, 28 (3), 693-701. (doi:10.1111/1365-2435.12207).

Record type: Article

Abstract

1. Phenotypes are often environmentally dependent, which requires organisms to track environmental change. The challenge for organisms is to construct phenotypes using the most accurate environmental cue.
2. Here, we use a quantitative genetic model of adaptation by additive genetic variance, within- and transgenerational plasticity via linear reaction norms and indirect genetic effects respectively.
3. We show how the relative influence on the eventual phenotype of these components depends on the predictability of environmental change (fast or slow, sinusoidal or stochastic) and the developmental lag ? between when the environment is perceived and when selection acts.
4. We then decompose expected mean fitness into three components (variance load, adaptation and fluctuation load) to study the fitness costs of within- and transgenerational plasticity. A strongly negative maternal effect coefficient m minimizes the variance load, but a strongly positive m minimises the fluctuation load. The adaptation term is maximized closer to zero, with positive or negative m preferred under different environmental scenarios.
5. Phenotypic plasticity is higher when ? is shorter and when the environment changes frequently between seasonal extremes. Expected mean population fitness is highest away from highest observed levels of phenotypic plasticity.
6. Within- and transgenerational plasticity act in concert to deliver well-adapted phenotypes, which emphasizes the need to study both simultaneously when investigating phenotypic evolution.

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Accepted/In Press date: 17 October 2013
e-pub ahead of print date: 14 January 2014
Published date: June 2014
Keywords: adaptation, indirect genetic effect, maternal effect, phenotypic evolution, phenotypic plasticity, quantitative genetics
Organisations: Centre for Biological Sciences

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 369288
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/369288
ISSN: 0269-8463
PURE UUID: d3eda6ce-f5fc-4d1e-bcb4-e7b055354afa
ORCID for Thomas H.G. Ezard: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-8305-6605
ORCID for Rebecca B. Hoyle: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1645-1071

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Date deposited: 23 Sep 2014 12:01
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:46

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Contributors

Author: Thomas H.G. Ezard ORCID iD
Author: Roshan Prizak

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