Genetic Differences in Plasticity Across Environmental Scales Determine Fitness Along an Ecological Gradient

Abstract

When populations suffer reduced fitness in novel environments, genotypes that better adjust their phenotype to cope with environmental change can aid persistence by reducing the severity of fitness declines. However, we know little about how plastic changes in phenotype allow different genotypes to track environmental variation across ecological gradients, particularly as environments become novel. We transplanted clones of 19 genotypes of a Sicilian daisy, Senecio chrysanthemifolius, at four elevations on Mt. Etna. We assessed fitness within native and novel elevations, and quantified leaf plasticity across and within elevations. Genotypes with higher fitness at novel elevations showed lower variance in fitness, lower plasticity across elevations, but higher plasticity within elevations compared to those with higher fitness in the native range. Our results suggest there are genotypes hidden in populations whose plasticity better tracks novel environmental variation at multiple ecological scales. Such genotypes will be crucial for population persistence under rapid environmental change.