1
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Ledru L, Garnier J, Gallet C, Noûs C, Ibanez S. Spatial structure of natural boxwood and the invasive box tree moth can promote coexistence. Ecol Modell 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2021.109844] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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2
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Bartlett LJ, Boots M. The central role of host reproduction in determining the evolution of virulence in spatially structured populations. J Theor Biol 2021; 523:110717. [PMID: 33862089 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2021.110717] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2020] [Revised: 04/05/2021] [Accepted: 04/09/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
A substantial body of work has shown that local transmission selects for less acute, 'prudent' parasites that have lower virulence and transmission rates. This is because parasite strains with higher transmission rates 'self-shade' due to a combination of genetic correlations (self: clustered related parasite strains compete for susceptible individuals) and ecological correlations (shade: infected individuals clustering and blocking transmission). However, the interaction of ecological and genetic correlations alongside higher order ecological effects such as patch extinctions means that spatial evolutionary effects can be nuanced; theory has predicted that a relatively small proportion of local infection can select for highest virulence, such that there is a humped relationship between the degree of local infection and the harm that parasites are selected to cause. Here, we examine the separate roles of the interaction scales of reproduction and infection in the context of different degrees of pathogenic castration in determining virulence evolution outcomes. Our key result is that, as long as there is significant reproduction from infected individuals, local infection always selects for lower virulence, and that the prediction that a small proportion of local infection can select for higher virulence only occurs for highly castrating pathogens. The results emphasize the importance of demography for evolutionary outcomes in spatially structured populations, but also show that the core prediction that parasites are prudent in space is reasonable for the vast majority of host-parasite interactions and mixing patterns in nature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lewis J Bartlett
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn TR10 9FE, UK; Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
| | - Mike Boots
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn TR10 9FE, UK; Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
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3
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Orivel J, Malé PJ, Lauth J, Roux O, Petitclerc F, Dejean A, Leroy C. Trade-offs in an ant-plant-fungus mutualism. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 284:rspb.2016.1679. [PMID: 28298342 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.1679] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2016] [Accepted: 08/31/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Species engaged in multiple, simultaneous mutualisms are subject to trade-offs in their mutualistic investment if the traits involved in each interaction are overlapping, which can lead to conflicts and affect the longevity of these associations. We investigate this issue via a tripartite mutualism involving an ant plant, two competing ant species and a fungus the ants cultivate to build galleries under the stems of their host plant to capture insect prey. The use of the galleries represents an innovative prey capture strategy compared with the more typical strategy of foraging on leaves. However, because of a limited worker force in their colonies, the prey capture behaviour of the ants results in a trade-off between plant protection (i.e. the ants patrol the foliage and attack intruders including herbivores) and ambushing prey in the galleries, which has a cascading effect on the fitness of all of the partners. The quantification of partners' traits and effects showed that the two ant species differed in their mutualistic investment. Less investment in the galleries (i.e. in fungal cultivation) translated into more benefits for the plant in terms of less herbivory and higher growth rates and vice versa. However, the greater vegetative growth of the plants did not produce a positive fitness effect for the better mutualistic ant species in terms of colony size and production of sexuals nor was the mutualist compensated by the wider dispersal of its queens. As a consequence, although the better ant mutualist is the one that provides more benefits to its host plant, its lower host-plant exploitation does not give this ant species a competitive advantage. The local coexistence of the ant species is thus fleeting and should eventually lead to the exclusion of the less competitive species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jérôme Orivel
- CNRS, UMR Ecologie des Forêts de Guyane, AgroParisTech, CIRAD, INRA, Université de Guyane, Université des Antilles, Campus Agronomique, BP 316, 97379 Kourou Cedex, France
| | - Pierre-Jean Malé
- UMR Evolution et Diversité Biologique, Université de Toulouse, 118 Route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse Cedex 9, France
| | - Jérémie Lauth
- CNRS, UMR Ecologie des Forêts de Guyane, AgroParisTech, CIRAD, INRA, Université de Guyane, Université des Antilles, Campus Agronomique, BP 316, 97379 Kourou Cedex, France
| | - Olivier Roux
- CNRS, UMR Ecologie des Forêts de Guyane, AgroParisTech, CIRAD, INRA, Université de Guyane, Université des Antilles, Campus Agronomique, BP 316, 97379 Kourou Cedex, France
| | - Frédéric Petitclerc
- CNRS, UMR Ecologie des Forêts de Guyane, AgroParisTech, CIRAD, INRA, Université de Guyane, Université des Antilles, Campus Agronomique, BP 316, 97379 Kourou Cedex, France
| | - Alain Dejean
- CNRS, UMR Ecologie des Forêts de Guyane, AgroParisTech, CIRAD, INRA, Université de Guyane, Université des Antilles, Campus Agronomique, BP 316, 97379 Kourou Cedex, France.,Ecolab, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, 118 Route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse Cedex 9, France
| | - Céline Leroy
- CNRS, UMR Ecologie des Forêts de Guyane, AgroParisTech, CIRAD, INRA, Université de Guyane, Université des Antilles, Campus Agronomique, BP 316, 97379 Kourou Cedex, France.,IRD, UMR AMAP (botAnique et Modélisation de l'Architecture des Plantes et des Végétations), Boulevard de la Lironde, TA A-51/PS2, 34398 Montpellier Cedex 5, France
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4
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Malé PJG, Leroy C, Humblot P, Dejean A, Quilichini A, Orivel J. Limited gene dispersal and spatial genetic structure as stabilizing factors in an ant-plant mutualism. J Evol Biol 2016; 29:2519-2529. [PMID: 27654029 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.12980] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2016] [Revised: 09/12/2016] [Accepted: 09/15/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Comparative studies of the population genetics of closely associated species are necessary to properly understand the evolution of these relationships because gene flow between populations affects the partners' evolutionary potential at the local scale. As a consequence (at least for antagonistic interactions), asymmetries in the strength of the genetic structures of the partner populations can result in one partner having a co-evolutionary advantage. Here, we assess the population genetic structure of partners engaged in a species-specific and obligatory mutualism: the Neotropical ant-plant, Hirtella physophora, and its ant associate, Allomerus decemarticulatus. Although the ant cannot complete its life cycle elsewhere than on H. physophora and the plant cannot live for long without the protection provided by A. decemarticulatus, these species also have antagonistic interactions: the ants have been shown to benefit from castrating their host plant and the plant is able to retaliate against too virulent ant colonies. We found similar short dispersal distances for both partners, resulting in the local transmission of the association and, thus, inbred populations in which too virulent castrating ants face the risk of local extinction due to the absence of H. physophora offspring. On the other hand, we show that the plant populations probably experienced greater gene flow than did the ant populations, thus enhancing the evolutionary potential of the plants. We conclude that such levels of spatial structure in the partners' populations can increase the stability of the mutualistic relationship. Indeed, the local transmission of the association enables partial alignments of the partners' interests, and population connectivity allows the plant retaliation mechanisms to be locally adapted to the castration behaviour of their symbionts.
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Affiliation(s)
- P-J G Malé
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - C Leroy
- IRD, AMAP (botAnique et bioinforMatique de l'Architecture des Plantes), Montpellier Cedex, France.,CNRS, UMR Ecologie des Forêts de Guyane, Kourou Cedex, France
| | - P Humblot
- CNRS, EDB (Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique), Toulouse Cedex, France.,Université de Toulouse, EDB, Toulouse Cedex, France
| | - A Dejean
- CNRS, UMR Ecologie des Forêts de Guyane, Kourou Cedex, France.,Université de Toulouse, UMR Ecolab (Laboratoire d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement), Toulouse Cedex 9, France
| | - A Quilichini
- CNRS, UMR Ecologie des Forêts de Guyane, Kourou Cedex, France.,Université de Toulouse, UMR Ecolab (Laboratoire d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement), Toulouse Cedex 9, France
| | - J Orivel
- CNRS, UMR Ecologie des Forêts de Guyane, Kourou Cedex, France
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5
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Jones EI, Afkhami ME, Akçay E, Bronstein JL, Bshary R, Frederickson ME, Heath KD, Hoeksema JD, Ness JH, Pankey MS, Porter SS, Sachs JL, Scharnagl K, Friesen ML. Cheaters must prosper: reconciling theoretical and empirical perspectives on cheating in mutualism. Ecol Lett 2015; 18:1270-1284. [PMID: 26388306 DOI: 10.1111/ele.12507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 86] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2015] [Revised: 07/13/2015] [Accepted: 08/13/2015] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Cheating is a focal concept in the study of mutualism, with the majority of researchers considering cheating to be both prevalent and highly damaging. However, current definitions of cheating do not reliably capture the evolutionary threat that has been a central motivation for the study of cheating. We describe the development of the cheating concept and distill a relative-fitness-based definition of cheating that encapsulates the evolutionary threat posed by cheating, i.e. that cheaters will spread and erode the benefits of mutualism. We then describe experiments required to conclude that cheating is occurring and to quantify fitness conflict more generally. Next, we discuss how our definition and methods can generate comparability and integration of theory and experiments, which are currently divided by their respective prioritisations of fitness consequences and traits. To evaluate the current empirical evidence for cheating, we review the literature on several of the best-studied mutualisms. We find that although there are numerous observations of low-quality partners, there is currently very little support from fitness data that any of these meet our criteria to be considered cheaters. Finally, we highlight future directions for research on conflict in mutualisms, including novel research avenues opened by a relative-fitness-based definition of cheating.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily I Jones
- Department of BioSciences, Rice University, Houston, TX, 77005, USA.,Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, Institute for Advanced Study, 14193, Berlin, Germany.,Department of Entomology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA
| | - Michelle E Afkhami
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G5, Canada
| | - Erol Akçay
- Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Judith L Bronstein
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA
| | - Redouan Bshary
- Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, CH-2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | - Megan E Frederickson
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G5, Canada
| | - Katy D Heath
- Department of Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA
| | - Jason D Hoeksema
- Department of Biology, University of Mississippi, University, MS, 38677, USA
| | - Joshua H Ness
- Department of Biology, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY, 12866, USA
| | - M Sabrina Pankey
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Biomedical Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 08624, USA
| | - Stephanie S Porter
- Department of Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA
| | - Joel L Sachs
- Department of Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA
| | - Klara Scharnagl
- Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA
| | - Maren L Friesen
- Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA
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6
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Abstract
Modelling wildlife disease poses some unique challenges. Wildlife disease systems are data poor in comparison with human or livestock disease systems, and the impact of disease on population size is often the key question of interest. This review concentrates specifically on the application of dynamic models to evaluate and guide management strategies. Models have proved useful particularly in two areas. They have been widely used to evaluate vaccination strategies, both for protecting endangered species and for preventing spillover from wildlife to humans or livestock. They have also been extensively used to evaluate culling strategies, again both for diseases in species of conservation interest and to prevent spillover. In addition, models are important to evaluate the potential of parasites and pathogens as biological control agents. The review concludes by identifying some key research gaps, which are further development of models of macroparasites, deciding on appropriate levels of complexity, modelling genetic management and connecting models to data.
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7
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Carlsson-Granér U, Thrall PH. Host resistance and pathogen infectivity in host populations with varying connectivity. Evolution 2015; 69:926-38. [DOI: 10.1111/evo.12631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2014] [Accepted: 02/18/2015] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Ulla Carlsson-Granér
- Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences; University of Umeå; S-90187 Umeå Sweden
| | - Peter H. Thrall
- CSIRO Agriculture Flagship GPO Box 1600; Canberra ACT 2601 Australia
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8
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Tarnita CE, Palmer TM, Pringle RM. Colonisation and competition dynamics can explain incomplete sterilisation parasitism in ant–plant symbioses. Ecol Lett 2014; 17:1290-8. [DOI: 10.1111/ele.12336] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2014] [Revised: 04/07/2014] [Accepted: 07/09/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Corina E. Tarnita
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Princeton University Princeton NJ 08544 USA
- Mpala Research Centre Box 555Nanyuki Kenya
| | - Todd M. Palmer
- Mpala Research Centre Box 555Nanyuki Kenya
- Department of Biology University of Florida Gainesville FL 32611 USA
| | - Robert M. Pringle
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Princeton University Princeton NJ 08544 USA
- Mpala Research Centre Box 555Nanyuki Kenya
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9
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Temporary sterilization behavior of mutualistic partner ants in a Southeast Asian myrmecophyte. Ecol Res 2014. [DOI: 10.1007/s11284-014-1161-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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10
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Mayer VE, Frederickson ME, McKey D, Blatrix R. Current issues in the evolutionary ecology of ant-plant symbioses. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2014; 202:749-764. [PMID: 24444030 DOI: 10.1111/nph.12690] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2013] [Accepted: 12/16/2013] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
Ant-plant symbioses involve plants that provide hollow structures specialized for housing ants and often food to ants. In return, the inhabiting ants protect plants against herbivores and sometimes provide them with nutrients. Here, we review recent advances in ant-plant symbioses, focusing on three areas. First, the nutritional ecology of plant-ants, which is based not only on plant-derived food rewards, but also on inputs from other symbiotic partners, in particular fungi and possibly bacteria. Food and protection are the most important 'currencies' exchanged between partners and they drive the nature and evolution of the relationships. Secondly, studies of conflict and cooperation in ant-plant symbioses have contributed key insights into the evolution and maintenance of mutualism, particularly how partner-mediated feedbacks affect the specificity and stability of mutualisms. There is little evidence that mutualistic ants or plants are under selection to cheat, but the costs and benefits of ant-plant interactions do vary with environmental factors, making them vulnerable to natural or anthropogenic environmental change. Thus, thirdly, ant-plant symbioses should be considered good models for investigating the effects of global change on the outcome of mutualistic interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veronika E Mayer
- Department of Structural and Functional Botany, Faculty Centre of Biodiversity, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, A-1030, Wien, Austria
| | - Megan E Frederickson
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Harbord Street, Toronto, M5S 3G5, Canada
| | - Doyle McKey
- Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, UMR 5175 CEFE, Université Montpellier 2, 1919 route de Mende, 34293, Montpellier Cedex 5, France
- Institut Universitaire de France, Université Montpellier 2, Montpellier Cedex 5, France
| | - Rumsaïs Blatrix
- Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, UMR 5175 CEFE, CNRS, 1919 route de Mende, 34293, Montpellier Cedex 5, France
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11
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Orona-Tamayo D, Heil M. Stabilizing Mutualisms Threatened by Exploiters: New Insights from Ant-Plant Research. Biotropica 2013. [DOI: 10.1111/btp.12059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Domancar Orona-Tamayo
- Departamento de Ingeniería Genética; CINVESTAV-Irapuato; Irapuato Guanajuato Mexico
- Instituto de Investigaciones Químico-Biológicas; Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo (UMSNH); Edif. B3, Ciudad Universitaria 58060 Morelia Michoacán Mexico
| | - Martin Heil
- Departamento de Ingeniería Genética; CINVESTAV-Irapuato; Irapuato Guanajuato Mexico
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12
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Malé PJG, Ferdy JB, Leroy C, Roux O, Lauth J, Avilez A, Dejean A, Quilichini A, Orivel J. Retaliation in Response to Castration Promotes a Low Level of Virulence in an Ant–Plant Mutualism. Evol Biol 2013. [DOI: 10.1007/s11692-013-9242-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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13
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Dejean A, Orivel J, Rossi V, Roux O, Lauth J, Malé PJG, Céréghino R, Leroy C. Predation success by a plant-ant indirectly favours the growth and fitness of its host myrmecophyte. PLoS One 2013; 8:e59405. [PMID: 23516632 PMCID: PMC3597600 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0059405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2012] [Accepted: 02/16/2013] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Mutualisms, or interactions between species that lead to net fitness benefits for each species involved, are stable and ubiquitous in nature mostly due to “byproduct benefits” stemming from the intrinsic traits of one partner that generate an indirect and positive outcome for the other. Here we verify if myrmecotrophy (where plants obtain nutrients from the refuse of their associated ants) can explain the stability of the tripartite association between the myrmecophyte Hirtella physophora, the ant Allomerus decemarticulatus and an Ascomycota fungus. The plant shelters and provides the ants with extrafloral nectar. The ants protect the plant from herbivores and integrate the fungus into the construction of a trap that they use to capture prey; they also provide the fungus and their host plant with nutrients. During a 9-month field study, we over-provisioned experimental ant colonies with insects, enhancing colony fitness (i.e., more winged females were produced). The rate of partial castration of the host plant, previously demonstrated, was not influenced by the experiment. Experimental plants showed higher δ15N values (confirming myrmecotrophy), plus enhanced vegetative growth (e.g., more leaves produced increased the possibility of lodging ants in leaf pouches) and fitness (i.e., more fruits produced and more flowers that matured into fruit). This study highlights the importance of myrmecotrophy on host plant fitness and the stability of ant-myrmecophyte mutualisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alain Dejean
- Université de Toulouse, UPS, Ecolab, Toulouse, France.
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14
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Optimal nutrient foraging strategy of an omnivore: Liebig's law determining numerical response. J Theor Biol 2012; 310:31-42. [PMID: 22750633 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2012.06.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2012] [Revised: 06/14/2012] [Accepted: 06/15/2012] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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15
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Frederickson ME, Ravenscraft A, Miller GA, Arcila Hernández LM, Booth G, Pierce NE. The direct and ecological costs of an ant-plant symbiosis. Am Nat 2012; 179:768-78. [PMID: 22617264 DOI: 10.1086/665654] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
How strong is selection for cheating in mutualisms? The answer depends on the type and magnitude of the costs of the mutualism. Here we investigated the direct and ecological costs of plant defense by ants in the association between Cordia nodosa, a myrmecophytic plant, and Allomerus octoarticulatus, a phytoecious ant. Cordia nodosa trees produce food and housing to reward ants that protect them against herbivores. For nearly 1 year, we manipulated the presence of A. octoarticulatus ants and most insect herbivores on C. nodosa in a full-factorial experiment. Ants increased plant growth when herbivores were present but decreased plant growth when herbivores were absent, indicating that hosting ants can be costly to plants. However, we did not detect a cost to ant colonies of defending host plants against herbivores. Although this asymmetry in costs suggests that the plants may be under stronger selection than the ants to cheat by withholding investment in their partner, the costs to C. nodosa are probably at least partly ecological, arising because ants tend scale insects on their host plants. We argue that ecological costs should favor resistance or traits other than cheating and thus that neither partner may face much temptation to cheat.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan E Frederickson
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Harbord Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G5, Canada.
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16
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Range expansion induces variation in a behavioural trait in an ant–plant mutualism. ACTA OECOLOGICA-INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/j.actao.2011.09.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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17
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Fayle TM, Edwards DP, Turner EC, Dumbrell AJ, Eggleton P, Foster WA. Public goods, public services and by-product mutualism in an ant-fern symbiosis. OIKOS 2011. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0706.2011.20062.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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18
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Archetti M, Scheuring I, Hoffman M, Frederickson ME, Pierce NE, Yu DW. Economic game theory for mutualism and cooperation. Ecol Lett 2011; 14:1300-12. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01697.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 130] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
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19
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Best A, Webb S, White A, Boots M. Host resistance and coevolution in spatially structured populations. Proc Biol Sci 2010; 278:2216-22. [PMID: 21147793 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2010.1978] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Natural, agricultural and human populations are structured, with a proportion of interactions occurring locally or within social groups rather than at random. This within-population spatial and social structure is important to the evolution of parasites but little attention has been paid to how spatial structure affects the evolution of host resistance, and as a consequence the coevolutionary outcome. We examine the evolution of resistance across a range of mixing patterns using an approximate mathematical model and stochastic simulations. As reproduction becomes increasingly local, hosts are always selected to increase resistance. More localized transmission also selects for higher resistance, but only if reproduction is also predominantly local. If the hosts disperse, lower resistance evolves as transmission becomes more local. These effects can be understood as a combination of genetic (kin) and ecological structuring on individual fitness. When hosts and parasites coevolve, local interactions select for hosts with high defence and parasites with low transmissibility and virulence. Crucially, this means that more population mixing may lead to the evolution of both fast-transmitting highly virulent parasites and reduced resistance in the host.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex Best
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK.
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20
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Abstract
Although mutualisms are common in all ecological communities and have played key roles in the diversification of life, our current understanding of the evolution of cooperation applies mostly to social behavior within a species. A central question is whether mutualisms persist because hosts have evolved costly punishment of cheaters. Here, we use the economic theory of employment contracts to formulate and distinguish between two mechanisms that have been proposed to prevent cheating in host-symbiont mutualisms, partner fidelity feedback (PFF) and host sanctions (HS). Under PFF, positive feedback between host fitness and symbiont fitness is sufficient to prevent cheating; in contrast, HS posits the necessity of costly punishment to maintain mutualism. A coevolutionary model of mutualism finds that HS are unlikely to evolve de novo, and published data on legume-rhizobia and yucca-moth mutualisms are consistent with PFF and not with HS. Thus, in systems considered to be textbook cases of HS, we find poor support for the theory that hosts have evolved to punish cheating symbionts; instead, we show that even horizontally transmitted mutualisms can be stabilized via PFF. PFF theory may place previously underappreciated constraints on the evolution of mutualism and explain why punishment is far from ubiquitous in nature.
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21
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Orivel J, Lambs L, Malé PJG, Leroy C, Grangier J, Otto T, Quilichini A, Dejean A. Dynamics of the association between a long-lived understory myrmecophyte and its specific associated ants. Oecologia 2010; 165:369-76. [PMID: 20683730 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-010-1739-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2009] [Accepted: 07/17/2010] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Myrmecophytic symbioses are widespread in tropical ecosystems and their diversity makes them useful tools for understanding the origin and evolution of mutualisms. Obligate ant-plants, or myrmecophytes, provide a nesting place, and, often, food to a limited number of plant-ant species. In exchange, plant-ants protect their host plants from herbivores, competitors and pathogens, and can provide them with nutrients. Although most studies to date have highlighted a similar global pattern of interactions in these systems, little is known about the temporal structuring and dynamics of most of these associations. In this study we focused on the association between the understory myrmecophyte Hirtella physophora (Chrysobalanaceae) and its obligate ant partner Allomerus decemarticulatus (Myrmicinae). An examination of the life histories and growth rates of both partners demonstrated that this plant species has a much longer lifespan (up to about 350 years) than its associated ant colonies (up to about 21 years). The size of the ant colonies and their reproductive success were strongly limited by the available nesting space provided by the host plants. Moreover, the resident ants positively affected the vegetative growth of their host plant, but had a negative effect on its reproduction by reducing the number of flowers and fruits by more than 50%. Altogether our results are important to understanding the evolutionary dynamics of ant-plant symbioses. The highly specialized interaction between long-lived plants and ants with a shorter lifespan produces an asymmetry in the evolutionary rates of the interaction which, in return, can affect the degree to which the interests of the two partners converge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jérôme Orivel
- CNRS, UMR Ecologie des Forêts de Guyane, Campus Agronomique, Kourou, France.
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22
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Gómez-Acevedo S, Rico-Arce L, Delgado-Salinas A, Magallón S, Eguiarte LE. Neotropical mutualism between Acacia and Pseudomyrmex: Phylogeny and divergence times. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2010; 56:393-408. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2010.03.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2009] [Revised: 03/04/2010] [Accepted: 03/15/2010] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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23
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Venkat S, Pleimling M. Mobility and asymmetry effects in one-dimensional rock-paper-scissors games. PHYSICAL REVIEW. E, STATISTICAL, NONLINEAR, AND SOFT MATTER PHYSICS 2010; 81:021917. [PMID: 20365605 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.81.021917] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2009] [Revised: 01/20/2010] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
As the behavior of a system composed of cyclically competing species is strongly influenced by the presence of fluctuations, it is of interest to study cyclic dominance in low dimensions where these effects are the most prominent. We here discuss rock-paper-scissors games on a one-dimensional lattice where the interaction rates and the mobility can be species dependent. Allowing only single site occupation, we realize mobility by exchanging individuals of different species. When the interaction and swapping rates are symmetric, a strongly enhanced swapping rate yields an increased mixing of the species, leading to a mean-field-like coexistence even in one-dimensional systems. This coexistence is transient when the rates are asymmetric, and eventually only one species will survive. Interestingly, in our spatial games the dominating species can differ from the species that would dominate in the corresponding nonspatial model. We identify different regimes in the parameter space and construct the corresponding dynamical phase diagram.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siddharth Venkat
- Department of Physics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061-0435, USA
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