Causes and consequences of predator-induced phenotypic plasticity

表型可塑性是指一种基因对环境因素的反应改变其性状表达的能力。表型可塑性的概念是进化论的一个组成部分，大量的实验研究表明，动物可以根据当前的环境条件灵活地修改自己的表型。整形修饰通常包括不同的表型特征，如行为、形态或生活史特征。然而，表型可塑性被认为是有成本和局限性的。关于不同特征的变化是否以及在多大程度上起协同作用，或者不同特征之间是否存在权衡，我们知之甚少。此外，尽管被诱导的表型在诱导环境中被认为是有益的(适应性表型可塑性)，但它在其他环境中可能是不利的。此外，关于表型可塑性对表型变异的影响，或者警报信号诱导的效应在多大程度上在世代之间传递，人们还知之甚少。这项建议的目的是调查警报提示诱导的反捕食者可塑性的直接原因和后果，以便提供一个全面的多性状表型可塑性的图景，包括它们在不同表型性状之间和不同背景下的差异。该项目将使我们能够获得关于基因型和表型之间的关系以及表型可塑性的进化和维持的基本经验知识，这些因素到目前为止都是从理论上解决的。为此，我们将研究捕食者诱导的表型可塑性(由同种警报信号触发)在进化生态学研究中公认的一夫一妻制鱼类Pelvicachromis taeniatus中。我们将首先研究警报线索诱导的可塑性和警报线索中的变异的基本近似性基础，以确定在多大程度上适应反捕食者的表型可塑性。其次，我们将确定警报提示诱导的表型可塑性在自然选择和性选择过程中的长期影响，以及在这一过程中不同表型性状之间的关系。实验结果将使我们能够确定哪些性状在不同的环境中是适应性的或非适应性的，以及表型变异受到多大程度的影响。第三，我们将确定在不同环境下，警报提示对亲代表现的短期和长期影响。

Phenotypic plasticity is the ability of a genotype to alter its trait expression in response to environmental factors. The concept of phenotypic plasticity is an integral part of evolutionary theory and numerous empirical studies showed that animals flexibly modify their phenotypes to current environmental conditions. Plastic modifications often include phenotypically different traits like behavioral, morphological or life-history traits. However, phenotypic plasticity is assumed to have costs and limitations. Little is known about whether and to which extent changes in different traits act in concert, or whether there exist trade-offs between different traits. Furthermore, although the induced phenotype is supposed to be beneficial in the inducing environment (adaptive phenotypic plasticity), it may be disadvantageous in other contexts. Moreover, little is known about the impact of phenotypic plasticity on phenotypic variation, or to what extent alarm cues induced effects are transmitted across generations. The aim of this proposal is to investigate proximate causes and consequences of alarm cue-induced antipredator plasticity in order to provide a comprehensive picture of multi-trait phenotypic plasticity including their variation among different phenotypic traits and across different contexts. The project will allow us to attain fundamental empirical knowledge about the relationships between the genotype and phenotype as well as the evolution and maintenance of phenotypic plasticity, factors that hitherto have been addressed theoretically. For this purpose, we will examine predator-induced phenotypic plasticity (triggered by conspecific alarm cues) in the monogamous cichlid Pelvicachromis taeniatus, a fish species that is well established model system in evolutionary ecology research. We will first study the underlying proximate basics of alarm-cue induced plasticity and variation in alarm cues in order to determine to what extent antipredator phenotypic plasticity is adaptive. Second, we will determine the long-term effects of alarm cue-induced phenotypic plasticity throughout natural and sexual selection processes as well as the relationships between the different phenotypic traits during this process. The experimental results will allow us to determine which traits are adaptive or nonadaptive among different contexts, and to what extent phenotypic variation is affected. Third, we will determine short-term and long-term alarm cue induced parental effects on offspring performance in different environments.