Meeting Abstract

S8.1-4  Monday, Jan. 6 09:30  The evolution of within- and among generation phenotypic plasticity in natural populations of Daphnia WALSH, M.R.; Univ of Texas, Arlington matthew.walsh@uta.edu

Many environmental forces (invasive species, climate change, habitat loss) threaten native biodiversity. The mechanisms that permit persistence, such as the ability of organisms to evolve genetically or alter the expression of traits (phenotypic plasticity), have been the focus of much research. However, it is now becoming clear that the environment can induce phenotypic changes that span multiple generations. Such ‘transgenerational plasticity’ occurs when the environment experienced by parents alters the reaction norms of subsequent generations. Transgenerational plasticity has been documented in many organisms for a variety of environmental perturbations. Theory predicts that similar conditions favor evolutionary shifts in within- and among-generation plasticity. Specifically, plasticity is predicted to be favored when (1) environmental conditions are variable but predictable (within- and among generation plasticity) and when (2) parent and offspring environmental conditions covary (among-generation plasticity only). Our understanding of the conditions that favor the gain or loss of transgenerational responses is limited. In this presentation, I will describe a series of experiments that explored the link between environmental stressors (i.e., predator cues, temperature, resources) and variation in patterns of phenotypic plasticity in natural populations of Daphnia. These results highlight the potential for plasticity to covary within- and among-generations.