Putting plasticity into practice for effective conservation actions under climate change

Phenotypic plasticity may help species to persist in the face of rapid change, yet we lack a management-friendly framework for incorporating plasticity into conservation practice. Here we emphasize the importance of phenotypic plasticity for management—when and how it matters—and describe three challenges that currently impede its consideration in conservation management. We propose a common language and framework that can be applied by scientists and conservation practitioners that connects plasticity to management actions. Crucially, our framework considers plasticity through the lens of an organism’s ‘fit’ to its environment and how that fit will be impacted by climatic changes. Finally, we present a road map for developing tools to highlight where consideration of plasticity is valuable for effective management. In this Perspective, the authors discuss the importance of considering phenotypic plasticity in conservation actions. They propose a framework to directly connect plasticity to management and a road map for developing tools to highlight where considering plasticity could be beneficial or required.