Evolution of Discrete Phenotypes from Continuous Norms of Reaction

2013 ◽  
Vol 182 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis-Miguel Chevin ◽  
Russell Lande
Keyword(s):  
Norms Of Reaction

The Evolution of Behavioral Norms of Reaction as a Problem in Ecological Genetics: Theory, Methods, and Data

1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott P. Carroll ◽  
Patrice Showers Corneli
Keyword(s):  
Strategic Behavior ◽  
Phenotypic Variability ◽  
Ecological Genetics ◽  
Phenotypic Traits ◽  
Environment Interaction ◽  
Behavioral Norms ◽  
Important Variation ◽  
Fitness Consequences ◽  
Genes And Environment ◽  
Norms Of Reaction

Behavior, like other phenotypic traits, varies as a function of genes and environment. Variation occurs at all demographic levels, within individuals over time, between individuals, and between populations and species. Whether variation is important will depend on the behavior and its context. For example, whether a bird scratches its head by extending a leg above or below the adjacent wing may not have profound fitness consequences, although species differences in this character may shed light on phylogenetic relationships (e.g., Wallace 1963; Simmons 1964). In contrast, other behaviors, such as the instantaneous decision to migrate or not, may affect fitness directly by altering the schedule of fecundity or mortality (Dingle et al. 1982). Such strategic behaviors (Maynard Smith 1982), which often depend for their expression on the assessment of local cues (Moran 1992), are complicated and important evolutionary traits. The phenotypic variability that defines them, however, has hindered our ability to treat them with formal evolutionary–genetic analyses that are central to the complete understanding of any putative adaptation. Much of the evolutionarily important variation observed in strategic behavior probably stems from differences among individuals due to genotype–environment interactions. To illustrate this in the most general terms, consider that behavioral distinctions among individuals may be based on (1) differences in the environmental conditions they experience, (2) differences in genetic elements that code for specific tactics or predispositions, or (3) differences in the genotype–environment interaction, manifested through developmental or facultative pathways, that is, “norms of reaction” (Schmalhausen 1949). Norms of reaction are functions that describe how a genotype is translated into a phenotype by the environment. They are becoming widely employed as a paradigm in evolutionary studies of physiological and life-history traits (e.g., Dingle 1992; reviewed by Stearns 1989), but are not yet used widely in studies of behavioral traits (but see Thompson this volume). Because much of the variation that behaviorists observe within populations and species is likely the result of a complex combination of individual differences in genetic code and differences in environment, norms of reaction need to be explored as a method for understanding the sources and structure of behavioral variation.

Norms of reaction and adaptational value considered in a tree breeding conte×t

2001 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 607-616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans-Rolf Gregorius ◽  
Jörg R.G. Kleinschmit
Keyword(s):  
Tree Breeding ◽  
Norms Of Reaction

The characterization of complex continuous norms of reaction

Oikos ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 116 (6) ◽  
pp. 986-994 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew M. Simons ◽  
Ioan Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Norms Of Reaction
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