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Exploring links between climatic predictability and the evolution of within- and transgenerational plasticity
Sridhar Halali1,2, Marjo Saastamoinen1,2
1Research Centre for Ecological Change, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences University of Helsinki Helsinki Finland.
Ecology and Evolution
|January 9, 2023
Summary
Phenotypic plasticity aids survival in changing environments. This study on butterflies found that while seasonal temperatures are predictable, within-season changes favor immediate (within-generation) adaptation over inherited (transgenerational) adaptation.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Environmental Science
Background:
- Phenotypic plasticity enhances fitness in variable environments by matching phenotypes to environmental conditions.
- Adaptive plasticity evolves when environmental conditions predict future selective pressures, enabling within-generation or transgenerational adaptation.
- Environmental predictability can also influence adaptive stress responses.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between environmental predictability and the evolution of adaptive plasticity.
- To assess the role of temperature predictability in shaping phenotypic plasticity in the butterfly *Melitaea cinxia*.
Main Methods:
- Utilized time series analysis of 48 years of temperature data.
- Conducted a common garden experiment using temperature as a stressor.
- Examined life-history traits for evidence of within-generation and transgenerational plasticity.
Main Results:
- Across-season temperatures showed predictability, but within-season fluctuations were heterogeneous and asynchronous.
- Most traits exhibited strong within-generation plasticity in response to temperature, with some breaking the temperature-size rule.
- Transgenerational plasticity was weak, with limited adaptive and non-adaptive responses observed.
Conclusions:
- Low within-season temperature predictability likely hinders the evolution of adaptive transgenerational plasticity.
- Strong within-generation plasticity is favored in environments with unpredictable short-term fluctuations.
- Findings highlight the differential evolution of plasticity types based on environmental predictability.
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