The relationships among developmental stability, canalization and phenotypic plasticity are not straightforward, but may be better understood in the context of temporally heterogeneous environments. Our objective was to investigate the effects of early experience with temporally heterogeneous water availability on the associations between developmental stability, canalization and phenotypic plasticity. We subjected eight plant species to a first round of alternating inundation and drought vs. constantly moderate water treatments and a second round of water conditions. Fluctuating asymmetry (FA), intra- and inter-individual variation (CVintra and CVinter), and plasticity in traits were measured and correlations between variables were calculated for each species. Early temporally heterogeneous experience decreased the leaf size of half of the species, but had complex effects on leaf fluctuating asymmetry (FA) and inter-individual variation (CVinter) in traits immediately or in late conditions, with little effects on intra-individual variation (CVintra). There were several positive correlations between FA and CVinter, positive correlations between CVinter and plasticity in early treatments, but negative correlations in late treatments. Our results suggested complexity and variability in the relationships between different mechanisms. Decreased canalization may promote plastic responses in traits before or during the induction of plasticity, whereas canalization may reflect phenotypic convergence after plastic responses. Temporally heterogeneous experiences may facilitate positive correlations or attenuate negative correlations between decreased canalization and plasticity. We provide direct evidence for relationships between developmental stability, canalization and plasticity as well as the role of temporally heterogeneous environments in modifying these processes. The integrative way that plants deal with environmental variation demonstrates their ability to evolve in multiple directions via many flexible adjustments in response to varying environmental signals over a plant’s lifetime.
