DRIFT & Threshold Hypothesis
At the beginning of this section, I would like to reference Beeks (1962).
quote: "In the center of the [salmon flowered longiflorus] population, an island of red variants emanated from a different kind of disturbance, a woodrat nest. Growing from the nest was a bright red flowering Diplacus; along a short radius from the nest, the flower color of the surrounding Diplacus graded from red to salmon-orange." - "Beeks noticed a transition happening in the field, which I believe was in its early stages. It seemed to be a drift."
A similar phenomenon was encountered for the first time between 1995 and 2001 at the Nate Harrison Grade. This time, no woodrat was involved. The color of a tagged individual yellow-flowered plant drifted spontaneously from salmon yellow to this pastel pink color within two years and ended up in 2001 in vivid red.
Diplacus calycinus to Diplacus puniceus transition in the Santa Ana Mountains. (Forest Rte 3S04)
In the early stages of transition, there may be color and shape inconsistencies between young and older flowers on the same plant. This "flitting behavior" dissipates as the flowers reach their final shape and color after about ten years. This process has a precise end stage. After fulfillment, the plant does not go back to its early state.
Threshold Hypothesis.
We have been observing this Diplacus system for years now. Snapdragon has been back for seven years, and Aquilegia for two years.
All of these systems have one thing in common.
- that they each consist of genomically remarkably similar partners
- the differences between the subspecies can be seen in flower colour and shape
- The subspecies occur at different altitudes.
- They can change dynamically (especially the higher shape).
- At first glance, the zone with the most variable shapes looks like a hybridization zone. At a second glance, one can see that the new shapes
developed solely from the higher form. This process takes 5-30 years for a population.
Variable shapes can arise spontaneously in certain places, requiring favourable environmental parameters. If a particular threshold value is reached, this phenomenon becomes apparent. The individuals then show neither flower shape nor colour consistency; they have become plastic.
The forms lying towards the valley become more and more common in this zone until, ultimately, no difference can be made. The zone can then disappear completely or start again higher up years later. It is a dynamic and self-generated adaptation to the new environmental parameters. The form lying more towards the valley is increasingly gaining territory.
fig.1
It needs to be made clear where the drive comes from. The drive is likely thermodynamic: chemical transformations have a thermodynamic character. Especially in multi-stage processes, the chemical equilibrium is on the side where more enthalpy can be generated. If the energy difference between reactant and product is significant and negative, the end product stabilizes by releasing heat. Such systems inevitably create order. See fictional example fig.2. If too little enthalpy can be generated due to environmental influences, it is possible that the system is metastable (below the threshold value (1). All forms appear at the same time. However, it is different with 1 and 3. - As we said, it is a fictitious example that has never been found before.
fig 2.
What if a living system can briefly increase the activation energy in a stressful situation regarding specific metabolic pathways? Then, all of a sudden, all the likely and less likely phenotypes appear. It then looks like a swarm of hybrids. If many different phenotypes occur, one can even do statistics and find out which is the most common form represented here. Now, the system gradually adapts - there is a natural intelligence behind it - towards the most common form while at the same time lowering the specific activation energy so the specific locus is tuned in a targeted manner. (DRAFT) 07-20-24