The ecology and evolution of mutualism

我的研究项目旨在了解物种间合作或互利共生的生态学和进化。互惠共生是所有生态群落的共同组成部分，在生物多样性中发挥了重要作用。在接下来的五年里，我将在多伦多大学开展我的研究计划，以调查以下关于互惠共生的生态学和进化的问题：（1）什么机制促进了互惠共生的进化和持续？自然界中普遍存在的互惠现象很难与自私的基因进化观相调和。自然选择应该青睐那些从互利共生中获益却不回报的骗子，而不是互利共生者。那么，为什么自然界中存在大量的互惠现象呢？(2)互惠关系中的伙伴多样性如何塑造种群的生态和进化动态？严格的一对一物种特异性在互惠关系中是罕见的。相反，大多数互惠关系都涉及相互作用的一方或双方的多个伙伴物种。我的研究小组成员将研究多物种互惠的动态如何取决于替代伙伴之间相互作用的相对成本和收益。(3)在不同的地理景观中，互惠是如何变化的？互惠共生的成本和收益不仅在一个群落内不同的物种伙伴之间存在差异，而且在不同的群落之间也存在差异。在我的研究小组中，我们将通过分子生物地理学分析来探讨互惠共生与元群落结构之间的关系。(4)最后，互惠共生在社区层面的后果是什么？通过这个研究计划，我将（i）培养学生在一系列领域和实验室技术，通常用于生态和进化研究和（ii）阐明有关生态学和互利共生的进化的基本问题。

My research program aims to understand the ecology and evolution of cooperation among species, or mutualism. Mutualisms are common and integral parts of all ecological communities and they have played key roles in the diversification of life. Over the next five years, I will develop my research program at the University of Toronto to investigate the following questions about the ecology and evolution of mutualism: (1) What mechanisms promote the evolution and persistence of mutualism? The prevalence of mutualisms in nature can be difficult to reconcile with a selfish-gene view of evolution. Instead of mutualists, natural selection should favour cheaters that take the benefits of mutualism but do not reciprocate. Why then do mutualisms abound in nature? (2) How does partner diversity in mutualisms shape the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of populations? Strict one-to-one species-specificity is rare in mutualisms. Instead, most mutualisms involve multiple partner species on one or both sides of the interaction. The members of my research group will investigate how the dynamics of multi-species mutualisms depend on the relative costs and benefits of interactions among alternative partners. (3) How do mutualisms vary over geographic landscapes? The costs and benefits of mutualism differ not only among different pairs of partner species within a community, but also among communities. In my research group, we will explore the relationship between mutualism and meta-community structure through molecular phylogeographic analyses. (4) Finally, what are the community-level consequences of mutualism? Through this research program, I will (i) train students in a range of field and laboratory techniques commonly used in ecological and evolutionary research and (ii) shed light on fundamental questions about the ecology and evolution of mutualism.