Buffering climate change - Predicting the evolution of phenotypic plasticity

Climate change is one of the biggest threats to biodiversity and will ultimately drive many species to extinction. Limiting biodiversity losses requires understanding species climate change responses. Phenotypic plasticity will be central to these response, yet assessments of climate change risk ignore the potential for phenotypic plasticity to buffer species from negative effects of climate change. This proposal will investigate the extent to which phenotypic plasticity mediates climate change responses across species and environments. The outcome will be a better understanding of species responses to climate change, more accurate predictions of risk and more effective protection of vulnerable environments.