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Experimental Manipulation of Body Size to Estimate Morphological Scaling Relationships in Drosophila
Published on: October 1, 2011
Testing the grain-size model for the evolution of phenotypic plasticity.
1Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, United Kingdom. johan.hollander@marecol.gu.se
Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution
|March 12, 2008
Summary
Phenotypic plasticity, the ability to change traits based on environment, evolves more in species with higher dispersal rates. This supports theories linking environmental change, dispersal, and adaptive evolution in marine life.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Biology
- Marine Ecology
- Genetics
Background:
- Phenotypic plasticity allows genotypes to alter traits in response to environmental shifts.
- Adaptive plasticity is theorized to evolve in species inhabiting heterogeneous environments.
- Dispersal rate influences the degree of environmental heterogeneity experienced by organisms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test the prediction that phenotypic plasticity evolves in association with dispersal rate.
- To conduct the first large-scale meta-analysis on plasticity and dispersal in marine invertebrates.
Main Methods:
- Meta-analysis of 258 published experiments on marine invertebrate plasticity.
- Statistical analysis to correlate phenotypic plasticity with species dispersal rates.
Main Results:
- A positive association was found between phenotypic plasticity and dispersal rate across marine invertebrates.
- Species with higher dispersal rates exhibited greater phenotypic plasticity.
Conclusions:
- Dispersal rate and environmental heterogeneity are significant selective pressures for the evolution of phenotypic plasticity.
- Findings support theoretical models predicting adaptive plasticity in relation to dispersal and environmental variability in marine ecosystems.
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