Adaptive phenotypic plasticity in response to climate change in a wild bird population

Anne Charmantier, Robin H. McCleery, Lionel R. Cole, Chris Perrins, Loeske E.B. Kruuk, Ben C. Sheldon

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

987 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Rapid climate change has been implicated as a cause of evolution in poorly adapted populations. However, phenotypic plasticity provides the potential for organisms to respond rapidly and effectively to environmental change. Using a 47-year population study of the great tit (Parus major) in the United Kingdom, we show that individual adjustment of behavior in response to the environment has enabled the population to track a rapidly changing environment very closely. Individuals were markedly invariant in their response to environmental variation, suggesting that the current response may be fixed in this population. Phenotypic plasticity can thus play a central role in tracking environmental change; understanding the limits of plasticity is an important goal for future research.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)800-803
Number of pages4
JournalScience
Volume320
Issue number5877
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 9 May 2008
Externally publishedYes

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