Direct and Indirect Effects of Antagonists on Mutualism

对两个物种都有利的物种之间的相互作用被称为互惠互利。互惠是许多社区不可或缺的组成部分，并直接和间接地参与了创造地球生物多样性的工作。尽管它们的重要性和普遍存在，仍然需要了解相互作用是如何受到其所在的当地社区的影响的。互惠被认为是一种精心平衡的互动，互动的好处超过了成本。这个项目将对有关社区成员如何影响互助者获得的成本和收益的理论预测进行实证检验。著名的丝兰和它们的授粉蛾之间的授粉互惠将被用来检验这些预测。研究人员将在自然种群中进行实验，并对植物繁殖进行遗传估计，以检验其他物种的存在如何影响这种互惠关系的成本效益比。研究结果将为互惠关系如何持续提供重要的测试，当互助者同时与各种物种互动时。这项研究还将把社区的观点纳入一个众所周知的相互作用中，这是生物学教科书中常用的互惠互利和授粉的例子。此外，这项研究将支持一个旨在为3-5年级学生创建基于网络的教学模块的教育推广项目，并将为教育工作者提供佛罗里达州综合评估考试格式的材料。

Interactions between species that benefit both species are known as mutualisms. Mutualisms are integral components of many communities and have been directly and indirectly involved in creating earth's biodiversity. Despite their importance and widespread occurrence, there is still a need to understand how mutualisms are influenced by the local community in which they exist. Mutualisms are thought to be carefully balanced interactions where the benefits of the interaction exceed the costs. This project will empirically test theoretical predictions concerning how community members affect the costs and benefits received by mutualists. The well-known pollination mutualism between yuccas and their pollinating moths will be used to test these predictions. Researchers will conduct experiments in natural populations and make genetic estimates of plant reproduction to examine how the presence of other species influences the cost-benefit ratio of this mutualism.Results from the study will provide important tests of how mutualisms persist when mutualists simultaneously interact with a variety of species. The research will also incorporate a community perspective into a well-known interaction that is commonly used in biology textbooks as an example of mutualism and pollination. Furthermore, the research will support an educational outreach project aimed at creating a web-based teaching module for 3rd-5th grade students and will provide Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test format material for educators.