Variation among organisms is manifested in the tremendous amount of growth forms found in nature. Species living
in particular environments often display specific growth characteristics which in many cases, become fixed genetically as
they confer an advantage in a given habitat. However, phenotypic plasticity, that is, the ability of a genotype to generate
different phenotypes in response to varying environmental
conditions (Pfennig et al., 2010), also plays a major role in
shaping organisms (West-Eberhard, 2003). Phenotypic plasticity is a highly relevant concept in ecology and evolutionary
biology because it allows organisms to react quickly to changing environmental conditions (Sommer and Ogawa, 2011;
West-Eberhard, 2003). Models of population divergence often
support the idea that the capacity for phenotypic plasticity relies on genetic factors (Price et al., 2003).