Associations between leaf developmental stability, variability, canalization and phenotypic plasticity in Abutilon theophrasti

Developmental stability, canalization, and phenotypic plasticity are the most common sources of phenotypic variation, yet comparative studies investigating the relationships between these sources, specifically in plants, are lacking. To investigate the relationships among developmental stability or instability, developmental variability, canalization and plasticity in plants, we conducted a field experiment with Abutilon theophrasti, by subjecting plants to three densities under infertile vs. fertile soil conditions. We measured the leaf width (leaf size) and calculated fluctuating asymmetry (FA), coefficient of variation within and among individuals (CVintra and CVinter), and plasticity (PIrel) in leaf size at day 30, 50 and 70 of plant growth, to analyze the correlations among these variables in response to density and soil conditions, at each of or across all growth stages. Results showed increased density led to lower leaf FA, CVintra and PIrel and higher CVinter in fertile soil. A ...