When Unreliable Cues Are Good Enough

In many species, nongenetic phenotypic variation helps mitigate risk associated with an uncertain environment. In some cases, developmental cues can be used to match phenotype to environment—a strategy known as predictive plasticity. When environmental conditions are entirely unpredictable, generati...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American naturalist 2013-09, Vol.182 (3), p.313-327
Main Authors: Donaldson-Matasci, Matina C., Bergstrom, Carl T., Lachmann, Michael
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Biological
Animal and plant ecology
Animal behavior
Animal cognition
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Annuals
Betting
Biological and medical sciences
Biological Evolution
Cues
Deserts
Drought
Environment
Environmental disorders
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects
Genetic diversity
Genetic variation
Germination
Information Theory
Models, Biological
Nonnative species
Optimal strategies
Phenotypes
Phylogenetics
Plant Development
Uncertainty
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In many species, nongenetic phenotypic variation helps mitigate risk associated with an uncertain environment. In some cases, developmental cues can be used to match phenotype to environment—a strategy known as predictive plasticity. When environmental conditions are entirely unpredictable, generating random phenotypic diversity may improve the long-term success of a lineage—a strategy known as diversified bet hedging. When partially reliable information is available, a well-adapted developmental strategy may strike a balance between the two strategies. We use information theory to analyze a model of development in an uncertain environment, where cue reliability is affected by variation both within and between generations. We show that within-generation variation in cues decreases the reliability of cues without affecting their fitness value. This transpires because the optimal balance of predictive plasticity and diversified bet hedging is unchanged. However, within-generation variation in cues does change the developmental mechanisms used to create that balance: developmental sensitivity to such cues not only helps match phenotype to environment but also creates phenotypic diversity that may be useful for hedging bets against environmental change. Understanding the adaptive role of developmental sensitivity thus depends on a proper assessment of both the predictive power and the structure of variation in environmental cues.
ISSN:0003-0147
1537-5323
DOI:10.1086/671161