Hangartner Sandra, Sgrò Carla M, Connallon Tim, Booksmythe Isobel
School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
Ecol Lett. 2022 Jun;25(6):1550-1565. doi: 10.1111/ele.14005. Epub 2022 Mar 25.
Populations must adapt to environmental changes to remain viable. Both evolution and phenotypic plasticity contribute to adaptation, with plasticity possibly being more important for coping with rapid change. Adaptation is complex in species with separate sexes, as the sexes can differ in the strength or direction of natural selection, the genetic basis of trait variation, and phenotypic plasticity. Many species show sex differences in plasticity, yet how these differences influence extinction susceptibility remains unclear. We first extend theoretical models of population persistence in changing environments and show that persistence is affected by sexual dimorphism for phenotypic plasticity, trait genetic architecture, and sex-specific selection. Our models predict that female-biased adaptive plasticity-particularly in traits with modest-to-low cross-sex genetic correlations-typically promotes persistence, though we also identify conditions where sexually monomorphic or male-biased plasticity promotes persistence. We then perform a meta-analysis of sex-specific plasticity under manipulated thermal conditions. Although examples of sexually dimorphic plasticity are widely observed, systematic sex differences are rare. An exception-cold resistance-is systematically female-biased and represents a trait wherein sexually dimorphic plasticity might elevate population viability in changing environments. We discuss our results in light of debates about the roles of evolution and plasticity in extinction susceptibility.
种群必须适应环境变化以维持生存。进化和表型可塑性都有助于适应，其中可塑性对于应对快速变化可能更为重要。在具有雌雄两性的物种中，适应过程较为复杂，因为两性在自然选择的强度或方向、性状变异的遗传基础以及表型可塑性方面可能存在差异。许多物种在可塑性方面表现出性别差异，但这些差异如何影响灭绝易感性仍不清楚。我们首先扩展了变化环境中种群持久性的理论模型，结果表明持久性受到表型可塑性的两性异形、性状遗传结构以及性别特异性选择的影响。我们的模型预测，偏向雌性的适应性可塑性——特别是在跨性别遗传相关性为中低水平的性状中——通常会促进种群的持久性，不过我们也确定了一些情况下，两性同形或偏向雄性的可塑性也会促进持久性。然后，我们对在受控热条件下的性别特异性可塑性进行了荟萃分析。虽然广泛观察到两性异形可塑性的例子，但系统性的性别差异很少见。一个例外——抗寒能力——系统性地偏向雌性，并且代表了一种性状，其中两性异形可塑性可能会在变化的环境中提高种群的生存能力。我们根据关于进化和可塑性在灭绝易感性中作用的争论来讨论我们的结果。
