Redpath Museum and Department of Biology, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada.
J Evol Biol. 2011 Feb;24(2):326-42. doi: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2010.02169.x. Epub 2010 Nov 19.
We use an individual-based numerical simulation to study the effects of phenotypic plasticity on ecological speciation. We find that adaptive plasticity evolves readily in the presence of dispersal between populations from different ecological environments. This plasticity promotes the colonization of new environments but reduces genetic divergence between them. We also find that the evolution of plasticity can either enhance or degrade the potential for divergent selection to form reproductive barriers. Of particular importance here is the timing of plasticity in relation to the timing of dispersal. If plasticity is expressed after dispersal, reproductive barriers are generally weaker because plasticity allows migrants to be better suited for their new environment. If plasticity is expressed before dispersal, reproductive barriers are either unaffected or enhanced. Among the potential reproductive barriers we considered, natural selection against migrants was the most important, primarily because it was the earliest-acting barrier. Accordingly, plasticity had a much greater effect on natural selection against migrants than on sexual selection against migrants or on natural and sexual selection against hybrids. In general, phenotypic plasticity can strongly alter the process of ecological speciation and should be considered when studying the evolution of reproductive barriers.
我们采用个体基础的数值模拟来研究表型可塑性对生态物种形成的影响。我们发现，在种群间存在从不同生态环境扩散的情况下，适应性可塑性很容易进化。这种可塑性促进了对新环境的殖民化，但减少了它们之间的遗传分化。我们还发现，可塑性的进化可以增强或降低分歧选择形成生殖隔离的潜力。这里特别重要的是可塑性与扩散时间的关系。如果可塑性在扩散之后表达，生殖隔离通常较弱，因为可塑性使移民更适合他们的新环境。如果可塑性在扩散之前表达，生殖隔离不受影响或增强。在我们考虑的潜在生殖隔离中，对移民的自然选择是最重要的，主要是因为它是最早起作用的隔离。因此，可塑性对自然选择的影响比对性选择的影响更大，对自然选择和性选择的杂种也更大。一般来说，表型可塑性可以强烈改变生态物种形成的过程，在研究生殖隔离的进化时应加以考虑。
