Adaptation to fine-grained environmental variation: An analysis of within-individual leaf variation in an annual plant

Recent studies of evolution in heterogeneous environments have concentrated on the role of coarse-grained environmental variation. Here I explore the potential for a modular organism to adapt to fine-grained environmental variation through within-individual variation among modules. I describe the pattern of variation among leaves of single individuals and report results of initial analyses of genetic variation for within-individual variability in leaf traits and of genetic correlations that could influence the rate of further evolution of within-individual variation of these traits. Plants from 24 paternal half-sib families were raised in growth chambers, and five traits were measured for two leaves produced by each plant. Four of the five traits differed significantly between sampling times. Genetic analyses revealed significant additive genetic variation for within-individual variation in several traits. Estimates of family mean correlations between traits expressed at different times suggest few relationships that would be expected to impede response to selection for changes in the pattern of within-individual variation in leaf traits. These results support the possibility that within-individual variation could evolve as an adaptive response to fine-grained environmental variation and suggest a need for further investigation to improve understanding of evolution in heterogeneous environments.