Phenotypic plasticity
Phenotypic plasticity—the ability of individual genotypes to produce
varying phenotypes based on the environment (West-Eberhard
2003)—provides an alternative mechanism for coping with climate change
that is more rapid than evolutionary adaptation. However, because
plasticity impedes natural selection on genetically based variation, it
may ultimately inhibit population persistence under long-term
directional change (Gienapp et al. 2008, Whitman and Agrawal 2009,
Chevin et al. 2010, 2013, Merilä and Hendry 2014). For mosquitoes,
potentially important plastic responses include changes in activity
patterns, biting behavior, or microhabitat selection, thermal
acclimation, and initiation of dormancy, as reviewed below (and see
Appendix C: Table S3). Phenotypic plasticity may itself vary across
genotypes and thus could evolve in response to environmental change, but
experimental evidence that this is possible is lacking (DeWitt et al.
1998, Scheiner and Berrigan 1998, Stinchcombe et al. 2004). Overall,
mosquitoes possess a variety of potential plastic responses, but the
capacity for these responses to increase thermal tolerance, their
potential fitness costs, and how these plastic responses might interact
with the process of evolutionary adaptation remain poorly understood.
Below, we review current knowledge of different potential plastic
responses.