Plasticity, Complexity, and the Individual

Cameron K. Ghalambor, Lynn B. Martin, H. Arthur Woods

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

This chapter focuses on two themes that reveal the importance of understanding individuals: (1) the concept of phenotypic plasticity, or the capacity for a given genotype to produce different phenotypes in response to different environments and (2) the concepts of complexity and integration, or how suites of interacting traits across levels of organization respond to, and evolve in response to, environmental variation. It first provides a brief history of progress toward an integrative organismal biology. The chapter then reviews why the concepts of plasticity, complexity, and integration have such unifying power. Finally, the chapter ends with a case study of how a focus on understanding mechanisms within individuals can influence biology across scales.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationIntegrative Organismal Biology
PublisherWiley-Blackwell
Pages1-21
Number of pages21
ISBN (Electronic)9781118398814
ISBN (Print)9781118398784
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 16 2015

Keywords

  • Complexity
  • Integration
  • Integrative organismal biology
  • Phenotypes
  • Phenotypic plasticity

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Plasticity, Complexity, and the Individual'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this