Multi-trait plasticity in response to a changing climate

Phenotypic plasticity, or the ability to change phenotype with environment, is the most important process determining the immediate response of natural populations to environmental change. However studies of plasticity frequently rely on simplifying assumptions, and an understanding of the genomic and epigenomic mechanisms underlying plasticity is only just emerging. The project aims to combine a fine-scale temperature-manipulation experiment with state-of-the-art genomic and multivariate statistical analyses of a native Australian alpine plant. The intended outcome is a comprehensive analysis of: (i) whether multi-trait phenotypic plasticity is adaptive; (ii) whether it can evolve; and (iii) the epigenomic mechanisms that drive it.