Developmental plasticity as adaptation: adjusting to the external environment under the imprint of maternal capital
- PMID: 30966888
- PMCID: PMC6460084
- DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0122
Developmental plasticity as adaptation: adjusting to the external environment under the imprint of maternal capital
Abstract
Plasticity is assumed to enable beneficial adjustment to the environment. In this context, developmental plasticity is generally approached within a two-stage framework, whereby adjustments to ecological cues in stage 1 are exposed to selection in stage 2. This conceptual approach may have limitations, because in species providing parental investment, particularly placental mammals such as humans, initial adjustments are not to the environment directly, but rather to the niche generated by parental phenotype (in mammals, primarily that of the mother). Only as maternal investment is withdrawn is the developing organism exposed directly to prevailing ecological conditions. A three-stage model may therefore be preferable, where developmental trajectory first adjusts to maternal investment, then to the external environment. Each offspring experiences a trade-off, benefitting from maternal investment during the most vulnerable stages of development, at the cost of exposure to investment strategies that maximize maternal fitness. Maternal life-history trade-offs impact the magnitude and schedule of her investment in her offspring, generating lifelong effects on traits related to health outcomes. Understanding the imprint of maternal capital on offspring is particularly important in species demonstrating social hierarchy. Interventions targeting maternal capital might offer new opportunities to improve health outcomes of both mother and offspring. This article is part of the theme issue 'Developing differences: early-life effects and evolutionary medicine'.
Keywords: adaptation; developmental plasticity; life-history theory; parental investment; parent–offspring conflict.
Conflict of interest statement
I declare I have no competing interests.
Similar articles
-
The thrifty phenotype as an adaptive maternal effect.Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc. 2007 Feb;82(1):143-72. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-185X.2006.00007.x. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc. 2007. PMID: 17313527 Review.
-
Life history trade-offs associated with exposure to low maternal capital are different in sons compared to daughters: Evidence from a prospective Brazilian birth cohort.Front Public Health. 2022 Sep 20;10:914965. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.914965. eCollection 2022. Front Public Health. 2022. PMID: 36203666 Free PMC article.
-
Low Maternal Capital Predicts Life History Trade-Offs in Daughters: Why Adverse Outcomes Cluster in Individuals.Front Public Health. 2019 Jul 31;7:206. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2019.00206. eCollection 2019. Front Public Health. 2019. PMID: 31417889 Free PMC article.
-
Maternal investment mediates offspring life history variation with context-dependent fitness consequences.Ecology. 2015 Sep;96(9):2499-509. doi: 10.1890/14-1602.1. Ecology. 2015. PMID: 26594706
-
Life history trade-offs and the partitioning of maternal investment: Implications for health of mothers and offspring.Evol Med Public Health. 2018 Aug 16;2018(1):153-166. doi: 10.1093/emph/eoy014. eCollection 2018. Evol Med Public Health. 2018. PMID: 30152817 Free PMC article. Review.
Cited by
-
Embedded racism: Inequitable niche construction as a neglected evolutionary process affecting health.Evol Med Public Health. 2023 Apr 21;11(1):112-125. doi: 10.1093/emph/eoad007. eCollection 2023. Evol Med Public Health. 2023. PMID: 37197590 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Formal models for the study of the relationship between fluctuating asymmetry and fitness in humans.Am J Biol Anthropol. 2022 Sep;179(1):73-84. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.24588. Epub 2022 Jul 21. Am J Biol Anthropol. 2022. PMID: 36790746 Free PMC article.
-
Associations of age at marriage and first pregnancy with maternal nutritional status in Nepal.Evol Med Public Health. 2022 Jul 25;10(1):325-338. doi: 10.1093/emph/eoac025. eCollection 2022. Evol Med Public Health. 2022. PMID: 35935708 Free PMC article.
-
Season of birth has no effect on symptoms of depression and anxiety in older adults.Sci Rep. 2022 Apr 26;12(1):6823. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-10892-8. Sci Rep. 2022. PMID: 35474329 Free PMC article.
-
Brown adipose tissue thermogenesis among a small sample of reindeer herders from sub-Arctic Finland.J Physiol Anthropol. 2022 Apr 20;41(1):17. doi: 10.1186/s40101-022-00290-4. J Physiol Anthropol. 2022. PMID: 35443705 Free PMC article.
References
-
- Alpert P, Simms EL. 2002. The relative advantages of plasticity and fixity in different environments: when is it good for a plant to adjust? Evol. Ecol. 16, 285–297. (10.1023/A:1019684612767) - DOI
Publication types
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources