Terrestrial Biodiversity Adaptation Research Network

“Theoretical and laboratory research suggest that phenotypic plasticity can evolve under selection. However, evidence for its evolutionary potential from the wild is lacking. We present evidence from a Dutch population of great tits (Parus major) for variation in individual plasticity in the timing of reproduction, and we show that this variation is heritable. Selection favouring highly plastic invidividuals has intensified over a 32-year period. This temporal trend is concurrent with climate change causing a mismatch between the breeding times of the birds and their caterpillar prey. Continued selection on plasticity can act to alleviate this mismatch...”

Nussey, D. H., E. Postma, P. Gienapp, and M. E. Visser. 2005. Selection on Heritable Phenotypic Plasticity in a Wild Bird Population. Science 310:304-306.