Meeting Abstract

S6.2-2  Sunday, Jan. 5 11:00  SCALES OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE, ENVIRONMENTAL MATCHING AND THE DYNAMICS OF PHENOTYPIC PLASTICITY GRUNBAUM, D.*; PADILLA, D.K.; University of Washington; Stony Brook University grunbaum@ocean.washington.edu

A recurrent theme across biology is the need to understand linkages between genotypes and phenotypes, especially in the context of evolution and regulation of phenotypic plasticity. Organism-level genotype-phenotype relationships set by the roles and limits of phenotypic plasticity, responsiveness to environmental fluctuations and trends, and variability among organisms have major impacts on lower levels of biological organization (development, physiology, behavior) and higher levels (population and community dynamics, evolution). However, these relationships, especially how rate and magnitude of spatial and temporal environmental change promote or inhibit evolution of alternative plastic phenotypic responses in different organismal systems, are poorly understood. Here, we develop a modeling case study of competing, co-occurring congener marine snail species, which exhibit distinct morphologic and behavioral plasticity in response to fluctuations in their shared environment. We examine mechanisms coupling stability and change across a spectrum of scales in environmental drivers, in individual morphologies and behavioral strategies, and in population-level characteristics such as abundance, diversity and species dominance. We assess the adaptive value of phenotypic plasticity, conditions that will or will not favor plasticity, and impacts of plasticity on abundance and coexistence. Quantitative organism-level models offer untapped opportunities for integrating across scales to interpret and predict biological dynamics in present and future environments.