Populations in more heterogeneous environments may experience selection pressures to favor genotypes with a greater expression of phenotypic plasticity compared to populations in less variable environments. Selection in heterogeneous environments may also favor a diversity of specialized genotypes. This research explores the interplay between the environmental context for selection with genetic architecture which may facilitate or constrain response to selection, to work toward resolving this dilemma. Using an experimental evolution approaches with the model systems Brassica rapa and Arabidopsis thaliana in a phenotypic selection experiment of heterogeneous or uniform environments, we are determining the role of environmental variation in the genetic architecture of fitness traits.
