The timing of developmental milestones such as egg hatch or bud break
can be important predictors of population success and survival. Many
insect species rely directly on temperature as a cue for their
developmental timing. With environments constantly under presure to
change, developmental timing has become highly adaptive in order to
maintain seasonal synchrony. However, climatic change is threatening
this synchrony.
Our model couples existing models of developmental timing to a
quatitative genetics framework which descibes the evolution of
developmental parameters. We use this approach to examine the ability of a
population to adapt to an enviroment that it is highly maladapted to.
Through a combination of numerical and analtyical approaches we explore
the dynamics of the infinite dimensional system of
integrodifference equations. The model indicates that developmental timing
is surprisingly robust in its ability to maitain synchrony even under
climatic change which works constantly to maintain maladaptivity.