title: Utilizing intraspecific variation in phenotypic plasticity to bolster agricultural and forest productivity under climate change.
abstract: Climate change threatens the ability of agriculture and forestry to meet growing global demands for food, fibre and wood products. Information gathered from genotype-by-environment interactions (G × E), which demonstrate intraspecific variation in phenotypic plasticity (the ability of a genotype to alter its phenotype in response to environmental change), may prove important for bolstering agricultural and forest productivity under climate change. Nonetheless, very few studies have explicitly quantified genotype plasticity-productivity relationships in agriculture or forestry. Here, we conceptualize the importance of intraspecific variation in agricultural and forest species plasticity, and discuss the physiological and genetic factors contributing to intraspecific variation in phenotypic plasticity. Our discussion highlights the need for an integrated understanding of the mechanisms of G × E, more extensive assessments of genotypic responses to climate change under field conditions, and explicit testing of genotype plasticity-productivity relationships. Ultimately, further investigation of intraspecific variation in phenotypic plasticity in agriculture and forestry may prove important for identifying genotypes capable of increasing or sustaining productivity under more extreme climatic conditions.
authors.affiliation: Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, University of Western Sydney, Penrith, New South Wales, 2751, Australia.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Aspinwall
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Studies, University of California - Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA.
authors.forename: Michael E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Loik
authors.affiliation: Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, University of Western Sydney, Penrith, New South Wales, 2751, Australia.|Department of Crop and Forest Sciences - AGROTECNIO Center, Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, E25198, Spain.
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Resco de Dios
authors.affiliation: Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, University of Western Sydney, Penrith, New South Wales, 2751, Australia.
authors.forename: Mark G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Tjoelker
authors.affiliation: USDA-ARS Cropping Systems Research Laboratory, Lubbock, TX, 74915, USA.
authors.forename: Paxton R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Payton
authors.affiliation: Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, University of Western Sydney, Penrith, New South Wales, 2751, Australia.
authors.forename: David T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Tissue
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000379:methods*; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D057231:Climate Change; D018556:Crops, Agricultural; D055864:Droughts; D004526:Efficiency; D016468:Forestry / Q000379:methods*; D065928:Forests; D014644:Genetic Variation; D010944:Plants / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D002245:Carbon Dioxide
keywords: acclimation; agriculture; forestry; genetic variation; physiology