Phenotypic plasticity of ecotypes across habitats

Year 2018, Volume: 7 Issue: 2, 245 - 250, 26.12.2018

Fatih Fazlıoğlu

https://doi.org/10.29278/azd.476663

Abstract

Phenotypic plasticity is
the ability of a genotype to produce multiple phenotypes depending on the
environmental conditions and it can allow persistence of populations in
heterogeneous habitats or under climate change. Therefore, phenotypic
plasticity can play a major role in the divergence
of populations across habitats. Trade-offs in plant performance in various
habitats can give rise to the evolution of specialized ecotypes which are
locally adapted (specialized) populations of the same species in distinct
environments. According to the specialization hypothesis, specialization of
ecotypes to either relatively favorable or unfavorable habitats results in
increased or decreased phenotypic plasticity, respectively. The presence of
phenotypic plasticity differences among ecotypes can be easily detected by
examining their performances at home (native) versus foreign (alien)
environments in reciprocal field experiments. In this meta-analysis, I compared
phenotypic plasticity of ecotypes specialized in favorable and unfavorable
habitats to test the specialization hypothesis by extracting data from 47
empirical studies. Log response ratio (LRR) and plasticity index (PI_v) were used as effect sizes to
detect and quantify significant differences in phenotypic plasticity of
ecotypes across habitats. The overall
result indicated that it was failed to find an effect of habitat origin on
phenotypic plasticity expression of ecotypes. Specialization to either
favorable or unfavorable habitats may not
alter phenotypic plasticity expression in ecotypes. The interplay between
phenotypic plasticity and specialization is quite complex and results of this
study may shed light into these two important evolutionary mechanisms in plant
ecology which have implications for biodiversity conservation, environmental
management, agricultural industry, and ecosystem services. 

Keywords

ecotypes, meta-analysis, plasticity index, plants

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