Ecology Case Study #1: Plasticity in urban vs. rural populations (Diamond et al. 2018)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts of phenotypic plasticity, its types, examples, and the Diamond et al. 2018 study on urban vs. rural ants.

Phenotypic plasticity

The ability of a single genotype to produce multiple phenotypes in response to environmental conditions; an adaptation allowing organisms to be flexible in variable environments.

Acclimation

Reversible phenotypic changes in response to changing environmental conditions.

Developmental plasticity

Phenotypic differences in a organism that are set by environmental conditions during growth and development.

Morphological plasticity

Changes in an organism's form or structure due to environmental factors (e.g., pepperweed increasing chemical defenses and trichomes when herbivores are present).

Behavioral plasticity

Variation in behavior in response to environmental conditions.

Physiological plasticity

Changes in physiological processes (e.g., metabolism, osmoregulation) in response to the environment.

Biotic pressures

Living factors such as predators, herbivores, pathogens, and competitors that can drive plastic responses.

Herbivore-induced plant defenses

Plants increase chemical defenses and physical traits (e.g., trichomes) in response to herbivore attack.

Adaptive plasticity

Plastic responses that increase fitness in the prevailing environment.

Maladaptive plasticity

Plastic responses that reduce fitness, often due to unreliable environmental cues.

Reversibility of plasticity

The extent to which a plastic change can be reversed if conditions revert.

Sequential hermaphroditism

Extreme plasticity where an individual changes sex in response to social/environmental cues.

Bluehead wrasse example

A bluehead wrasse can switch from female to male when the dominant male dies, altering reproduction within about two weeks.

Temnothorax curvispinosus

The ant species used as the focal organism to study urban vs. rural plasticity in Diamond et al. 2018.

Urban heat island

Pattern of higher temperatures in urban areas due to human activities and altered land cover.

Common garden experiment

Experimental design in which individuals from different populations are raised in the same environment to disentangle genetic differences from plasticity.

Common garden colony sources

Locations (cities) from which experimental colonies are sourced to establish a controlled common garden in Diamond et al. 2018.

Diamond et al. 2018 focal paper

Study showing urban acorn ants tolerate more rapid increases in environmental temperature; evidence on evolution of plasticity in cities.

Urban acorn ants

Temnothorax curvispinosus populations in urban environments that tolerate faster temperature increases.

Nest/foraging temperature monitoring

Method of recording temperatures inside nests and foraging sites to assess thermal environments experienced by colonies.

Candida albicans plasticity

Morphological plasticity where Candida albicans shifts from budding yeast to filamentous hyphae in response to host cues.

Timescale of environmental change

The benefit of phenotypic plasticity depends on how quickly environmental conditions change over time.

Observational vs experimental research on plasticity

Observational studies document natural variation; experimental studies manipulate conditions to infer causal plastic responses and evolutionary implications.