The ecology and evolution of mutualism

我的研究项目旨在了解物种间合作或互惠共生的生态和进化。互惠共生是所有生态群落的共同组成部分，它们在生命多样性中发挥了关键作用。在接下来的五年里，我将在多伦多大学发展我的研究项目，调查以下关于互惠关系的生态学和进化的问题：(1)什么机制促进了互惠关系的演变和持续？自然界中普遍存在的互惠共生现象很难与自私基因的进化观相一致。自然选择应该有利于那些从互惠互利中获益但不互惠的作弊者，而不是互惠互利的人。那么，为什么自然界中有大量的互惠共生？(2)互惠共生中的伙伴多样性如何塑造种群的生态和进化动态？严格的一对一物种专一性在互惠共生中很少见。相反，大多数互惠关系涉及相互作用一侧或两侧的多个伙伴物种。我的研究小组的成员将研究多物种互惠关系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)互惠关系在不同的地理景观中有何不同？互惠共生的代价和收益不仅在一个社区内不同的伙伴物种对之间，而且在社区之间也是不同的。在我的课题组中，我们将通过分子系统地理分析来探索互惠关系和元群落结构之间的关系。(4)最后，互惠互利在社区层面的后果是什么？通过这个研究计划，我将(I)培训学生在生态学和进化论研究中常用的一系列领域和实验室技术，以及(Ii)阐明关于互惠共生的生态学和进化论的基本问题。

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.