Review: How to analyse plant phenotypic plasticity in response to a changing climate

Phenotypic plasticity, or the ability to change in response to the environment, is one of the most characteristic (and to me, endearing) qualities of plants. As Arnold et al. observe, it is also one of the most important in terms of future climate change; phenotypic plasticity will mean the difference between species that persist and those that perish. But, they also observe, phenotypic plasticity is difficult to quantify. Here, they provide an approach by which to analyze phenotypic plasticity, using reaction norms. In the Supporting Information, they provide a tutorial with instructions and code demonstrating how a random regression mixed model framework can be used to characterize plasticity. (Summary by Mary Williams) New Phytol. 10.1111/nph.15656