All organisms have a stress response system to cope with environmental threats, yet its precise form varies hugely within and across individuals, populations, and species. While the physiological mechanisms are increasingly understood, how stress responses have evolved remains elusive. Here, we show that important insights can be gained from models that incorporate physiological mechanisms within an evolutionary optimality analysis (the ‘evo-mecho’ approach). Our approach reveals environmental predictability and physiological constraints as key factors shaping stress response evolution, generating testable predictions about variation across species and contexts. We call for an integrated research programme combining theory, experimental evolution, and comparative analysis to advance scientific understanding of how this core physiological system has evolved.

所有生物都有应对环境威胁的应激反应系统，但其精确形式在个人，种群和物种之间以及内部，个体之间差异很大。尽管人们逐渐了解了生理机制，但是如何应对压力反应仍然难以捉摸。在这里，我们表明可以从将生理机制纳入进化最优性分析（“ evo-mecho”方法）的模型中获得重要的见解。我们的方法揭示了环境可预测性和生理上的制约因素，这些因素是影响应激反应演变的关键因素，可生成有关物种和环境变异的可测预测。我们呼吁将理论，实验发展，