ReviewHeredity2015
Constraints on the evolution of phenotypic plasticity: limits and costs of phenotype and plasticity.
Review in Heredity, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 209 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
209 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Sexual dimorphism in phenotypic plasticity and persistence under environmental change: An extension of theory and meta-analysis of current data.Ecology letters · 2022Pooled it
- Sparse evidence for selection on phenotypic plasticity in response to temperature.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2019Pooled it
- Rethinking yield stability through phenotypic plasticity and its link to modern statistical methods.Journal of experimental botany · 2026Review
- Hot temperature during development alters iridescence inPNAS nexus · 2026Article
- Genetically diverse populations hold the keys to climatic adaptation in the Western barn owl (Tyto alba).Communications biology · 2026Article
- Early Post-Release Movement Convergence in Reintroduced Giant Pandas.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Increased adaptive potential in novel environments can be predicted from genetic variance in development time expressed in native environments.Evolution letters · 2026Article
- Article
- Genetic basis of temporal variation in phenology in a woody perennial plant.NPJ systems biology and applications · 2026Article
- Thermal Plasticity is Regulated by a Key MicroRNA During Range Expansion of an Invasive Fruit Fly.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Leaf Structural, Physiological and Biochemical Responses to Contrasting Light Environments inPlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Phenotypic plasticity evolved for climate variability constrains performance under climate warming.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Inducibility of cyclic electron transport is linked to the transition from C3-C4 to C4 photosynthesis in Flaveria.Plant physiology · 2026Article
- Evolutionary bioenergetics of sporulation.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Biotic and Abiotic Drivers of Phenotypic Diversity in the GenusPlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Evolution of phenotypic plasticity owing to migration.Evolution letters · 2026Article
- The effect of drought stress on the limits and costs of plasticity in floral longevity in response to pollinator decline.American journal of botany · 2026Article
- Resilience in a Hypoxic World: Fish Respond Through Plasticity in Their Behaviour, Whereas Adaptation and Adaptation of Plasticity in the Behaviour and Metabolism Occur.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Evolution of dominance in a Mendelian trait is linked to the evolution of environmental plasticity.Evolution; international journal of organic evolution · 2026Article
- Leaf-Fruit Trait Decoupling Along Environmental Gradients in Tropical Cryptocaryeae (Lauraceae).Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
149 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
16 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Phenotypic plasticity is ubiquitous and generally regarded as a key mechanism for enabling organisms to survive in the face of environmental change. Because no organism is infinitely or ideally plastic, theory suggests that there must be limits (for example, the lack of ability to produce an optimal trait) to the evolution of phenotypic plasticity, or that plasticity may have inherent significant costs. Yet numerous experimental studies have not detected widespread costs. Explicitly differentiating plasticity costs from phenotype costs, we re-evaluate fundamental questions of the limits to the evolution of plasticity and of generalists vs specialists. We advocate for the view that relaxed selection and variable selection intensities are likely more important constraints to the evolution of plasticity than the costs of plasticity. Some forms of plasticity, such as learning, may be inherently costly. In addition, we examine opportunities to offset costs of phenotypes through ontogeny, amelioration of phenotypic costs across environments, and the condition-dependent hypothesis. We propose avenues of further inquiry in the limits of plasticity using new and classic methods of ecological parameterization, phylogenetics and omics in the context of answering questions on the constraints of plasticity. Given plasticity's key role in coping with environmental change, approaches spanning the spectrum from applied to basic will greatly enrich our understanding of the evolution of plasticity and resolve our understanding of limits.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.