Trans-generational plasticity and bet-hedging: a common eco-evolutionary framework of utter relevance for climate change adaptation. release_ewpsjyhjdvcvbiayvfynm746ta

Abstract

Organisms are typically assumed to respond to environmental change by genetic adaptation, phenotypic plasticity, or by genetic adaptation of phenotypic plasticity - the latter is in the focus of contemporary calls for an extended evolutionary synthesis, because it impacts evolutionary dynamics by tinkering with the raw material for selection (phenotypes). Diversified bet-hedging, a risk-spreading strategy that affects the phenotypic variance among one's offspring, can provoke a similar impact, yet it is rarely considered in studies of climate change adaptation. We argue that this is due to plasticity being overly synonymized with phenotypic variance and GxE interactions, and thus strive for a unifying framework: we clarify that diversified bet-hedging and plasticity are mutually exclusive strategies, arising from opposing changes in reaction norms (allocating phenotypic variance among or within environments). Since these two strategies have in common that they shape phenotypic variance within populations, both may determine evolutionary dynamics and hence resilience to climate change. We advocate that a paradigm shift is required to accommodate the role of bet-hedging in evolution.
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