Department of Biology, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, USA.
Am Nat. 2010 Jun;175(6):702-16. doi: 10.1086/652434.
In nature, resource availability varies spatially and temporally both within and across generations, leading to variation in the amount of energy available to individuals. The optimal allocation strategy can change, depending on the amount of resources available to allocate to life-history functions. If so, selection should favor the evolution of allocation strategies that can respond to variation in environmental resource levels. We address this issue by using two quantitative genetic simulation models in a model system for studying trade-offs, wing-dimorphic insects. Wing dimorphic insects typically exhibit a trade-off in the allocation of resources between migratory ability and reproduction. In our models, we focus on allocation as a genetic trait and model the evolution of phenotypic plasticity in this trait in response to spatiotemporal variation in resource availability. We show that the evolved allocation strategy depends on the predictability of resource levels across time. Specifically, selection favors higher investment in flight under poor conditions in predictable environments and lower investment in unpredictable environments.
在自然界中，资源的可利用性在个体内部和个体之间随时间和空间而变化，导致可用能量的数量发生变化。最优分配策略可能会发生变化，具体取决于可用于分配给生命史功能的资源数量。如果是这样，选择应该有利于能够响应环境资源水平变化的分配策略的进化。我们通过在用于研究权衡的模型系统中使用两个定量遗传模拟模型来解决这个问题，该模型系统为翅膀二态性昆虫。翅膀二态性昆虫通常表现出在迁徙能力和繁殖之间分配资源的权衡。在我们的模型中，我们将注意力集中在分配上作为一种遗传特征，并模拟这种特征在对资源可用性的时空变化的响应中的表型可塑性的进化。我们表明，进化的分配策略取决于资源水平在时间上的可预测性。具体来说，选择有利于在可预测环境中的恶劣条件下对飞行进行更高的投资，而在不可预测的环境中则进行较低的投资。
