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Figure 3 | BMC Biology

Figure 3

From: Modality matters for the expression of inducible defenses: introducing a concept of predator modality

Figure 3

Distinction between quantitative (a, b) and qualitative differences (c, d) of inducible defenses. C (white) represents a non-induced morph, P 1 (light gray) represents a morph defended against the predator 1 and P 2 (dark gray) represents a morph defended against predator 2. The triangles, the square and the circle depict the phenotype. In the case of quantitative differences, the changes can be put in order in terms of an increase or decrease (represented by the different sizes of the triangles). This is true for both a) gradual responses (C <P 1 <P 2 ) and b) antagonistic responses (P 1 <C <P 2 ) In contrast, qualitative differences cannot be put in order in terms of an increase or decrease (represented by the different shapes of the triangles), as changes in different traits would lead to differently shaped phenotypes. This can either be the case, because a) independent changes occur (here: P 1 gets higher than C and P 2 gets wider than C, so for one trait (for example, width) it is C = P 1 <P 2 for the other trait (for example, height) it is C = P 2 <P 1 ), or b) because the changes to the traits occur to a different extent (here: P 1 is higher than P 2 , but P 2 is wider than P 1 , so for one trait (for example, width) it is C <P 1 <P 2 for the other trait (for example, height) it is C <P 2 <P 1 ).

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