Causes and Consequences of Phenotypic Plasticity in Complex Environments.

Phenotypic plasticity is a ubiquitous and necessary adaptation of organisms to variable environments, but most environments have multiple dimensions that vary. Many studies have documented plasticity of a trait with respect to variation in multiple environmental factors. Such multidimensional phenotypic plasticity (MDPP) exists at all levels of organismal organization, from the whole organism to within cells.