Changes in phenology can alter patterns of natural selection: the joint evolution of germination time and postgermination traits.

The timing of a developmental transition (phenology) can influence the environment experienced by subsequent life stages. When phenology causes an organism to occupy a particular habitat as a consequence of the developmental cues used, it can act as a form of habitat tracking. Evolutionary theory predicts that habitat tracking can alter the strength, direction, and mode of natural selection on subsequently expressed traits.

Genetic Consequences of Biologically Altered Environments.

Evolvable traits of organisms can alter the environment those organisms experience. While it is well appreciated that those modified environments can influence natural selection to which organisms are exposed, they can also influence the expression of genetic variances and covariances of traits under selection. When genetic variance and covariance change in response to changes in the evolving, modified environment, rates and outcomes of evolution also change.

Can the Environment have a Genetic Basis? A Case Study of Seedling Establishment in Arabidopsis thaliana.

The timing of seed germination determines the environment experienced by a plant's most vulnerable life stage-the seedling. Germination is environmentally cued, and genotypes can differ in their sensitivity to environmental cues. When genotypes differ in their response to cues, and when cues accurately predict the postgermination environment, the postgermination environment experienced by seedlings can itself have a genetic basis and potential to evolve.