Qeustion: How does an organism that possesses inducible plasticity determine waiting time before the development of a secondary phenotype is suitable?
Model: Maximization of the fitness currency, the survival possibility times the expected amount of remaining energy at terminal time, with respect to waiting time before development of a secondary phenotype.
Key assumptions: If the individual develops the inducible secondary phenotype in the secondary environment, death rate is reduced. The development and maintenance of the inducible phenotype incurs a cost.
Results: The optimal waiting tiem should be longer under the following conditions: when the inducible phenotype has low effectiveness in improving the survival rate of an organism exposed to the secondary environment; when the cost of development of the secondary phenotype is high; when the time delay required to develop the phenotype is short; or when the total energy that an organism possesses initially is low and fitness will be evaluated far in the future
