Digest: Clinal variation in plant traits is shaped by plastic and evolutionary responses to water regimes and herbivory

How do water regime and herbivory shape phenotypic variation in plants along environmental gradients? Using a multifactorial field common garden approach, Jameel et al. (2025) showed that water availability and herbivore abundance influence the expression of foliar and reproductive traits in the perennial forb Boechera stricta. The concordance between phenotypic plasticity, phenotypic clines, and the direction of selection demonstrates the adaptive nature of plasticity in ecologically relevant traits. Furthermore, the experimental manipulations highlight which agents of selection drive the evolution of these traits.