CAREER: The ontogeny of mutualism: exploring variation in costs and benefits within an ant-plant symbiosis

职业：互利共生的个体发育：探索蚂蚁与植物共生中成本和收益的变化

• 批准号: 1149980
• 负责人: Todd Palmer
• 金额: $ 65万
• 依托单位: University of Florida
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-03-01 至 2019-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1149980&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; ontogeny; mutualism; exploring; variation

Mutualisms, cooperative interactions among species, are among the most widespread species interactions on earth. From tiny fungi that harvest nutrients for their plant partners, to large mammals that disperse the seeds of forest trees, to the pollinators that maintain global agricultural productivity, mutualistic partnerships play a central role in the global economy and the maintenance of biological diversity. A key unresolved question is, how do these interactions remain cooperative when natural selection should favor selfish individuals who reap benefits without paying the costs of cooperation? Studies addressing this question typically calculate the costs and benefits of interacting with a given partner species independent of an individual's life stage and interactions with other partner species. But natural selection acts on lifetime fitness, and many mutualists interact with multiple partners species throughout their lives. Evaluating how the costs and benefits of multiple partnerships integrate over the lifetime of mutualists is a critical link in understanding how these globally important interactions evolve and function. Focusing on a multi-species ant-plant (Acacia) mutualism found throughout East Africa, this study seeks to evaluate how the costs and benefits of mutualism change with variation in the life-stage of interacting partner species, and how the net fitness effects of multiple interactions change with variation in the timing, duration and sequence of plant partnerships with different ant species. The results will shed light on how this model mutualism remains cooperative, and what factors can precipitate its breakdown. This research will also involve the development of four synergistic educational objectives aimed at engaging U.S. and African undergraduate students, K-12 students, and the general public. The program will develop a month-long field program that directly engages U.S. undergraduate students in original research and experiential learning, and allow for the training of exceptional undergraduates in the ecology of mutualism from both plant and animal perspectives. In addition, by partnering with an African collaborator, the program will bring 25 Kenyan K-12 students to the field site each year to learn about the natural history of East Africa, using the ant-Acacia system to actively engage kids in the process of scientific discovery.

相互作用，即物种之间的合作互动，是地球上最广泛的物种相互作用之一。从为植物伙伴收获养分的微小真菌，到传播森林树木种子的大型哺乳动物，再到维持全球农业生产力的传粉者，互惠伙伴关系在全球经济和维持生物多样性方面发挥着核心作用。一个关键的未解决的问题是，当自然选择倾向于那些不付出合作成本而获得利益的自私个体时，这些相互作用如何保持合作？解决这个问题的研究通常会计算与特定伴侣物种互动的成本和收益，而不考虑个体的生命阶段和与其他伴侣物种的互动。但自然选择影响着一生的适应性，许多互惠主义者一生中都与多个伴侣物种互动。评估多种伙伴关系的成本和收益如何在互惠者的一生中整合，是理解这些全球重要互动如何演变和发挥作用的关键环节。本研究以东非地区发现的一种多物种蚁-植物共生（金合欢）为研究对象，旨在评估共生的成本和收益如何随相互作用伙伴物种生命阶段的变化而变化，以及多种相互作用的净适应度效应如何随植物与不同蚂蚁物种伙伴关系的时间、持续时间和顺序的变化而变化。研究结果将揭示这种互惠共生模式是如何保持合作的，以及哪些因素会导致其崩溃。这项研究还将涉及四个协同教育目标的发展，旨在吸引美国和非洲的本科生、K-12学生和公众。该项目将开展一个为期一个月的实地项目，让美国本科生直接参与原创性研究和体验式学习，并从植物和动物的角度对优秀本科生进行互惠生态方面的培训。此外，通过与非洲合作伙伴合作，该项目每年将带25名肯尼亚K-12学生到现场学习东非的自然历史，利用抗金合欢系统积极吸引孩子们参与科学发现的过程。