DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Coexistence or extinction: The coevolutionary dynamics of mutualists and exploiters

互惠互利是指物种之间为了共同的净利益而交换资源或服务，对许多物种的生存和繁殖起着至关重要的作用。然而，互惠关系的存在本身就令人困惑，因为这些相互作用经常被其他无回报的物种利用。在这个研究项目中，计算机模拟将被用来解决互惠物种和剥削物种如何在每个物种进化的过程中共存的问题。重点将是分析互惠主义者是否能够限制剥削的成本，甚至通过增加争夺报酬的竞争力度来选择危害较小的剥削者。合作的进化和持续，尤其是物种之间的合作，是生物学中最大的谜团之一。这项工作将通过研究物种间合作的生态和进化动态，并测试一种有趣的机制，从而促进我们对物种间合作的持久性的理解，这种机制已被提出，以防止开发破坏合作。此外，通过分析模拟结果对不同环境条件的敏感性，可以预测环境变化和物种入侵等因素对共生持续的影响。该项目为研究生和本科生提供生物学、数学和计算机科学方面的培训，并促进亚利桑那大学和杜克大学研究人员之间的合作。

Mutualisms, the exchange of resources or services between species for a mutual net benefit, play a critical role in the survival and reproduction of many species. However, the very existence of mutualisms is puzzling, since these interactions are often exploited by other, non-rewarding species. In this research project, computer simulations will be used to address the question of how mutualist and exploiter species can coexist as each species evolves. The focus will be on analyzing whether mutualists can restrict the costs of exploitation and even select for less harmful exploiters by increasing the strength of competition for rewards. The evolution and persistence of cooperation, especially between species, is one of the largest mysteries in biology. This work will advance our understanding of the persistence of cooperation between species, by investigating its ecological and evolutionary dynamics and testing an intriguing mechanism that has been proposed to prevent exploitation from extinguishing cooperation. Furthermore, analysis of the sensitivity of simulation results to different environmental conditions will generate predictions about the effects of factors such as environmental change and species invasion on mutualism persistence. The project provides training at the interface of biology, mathematics, and computer science for graduate and undergraduate students, and fosters collaboration between researchers at the University of Arizona and Duke University.