The ecology and evolution of mutualism

理解合作是如何进化的，尽管选择“欺骗”是进化生物学的一个中心问题。物种之间的合作进化，或互利共生，尤其令人困惑，因为合作伙伴不共享基因，排除了包容性的健身效益。然而，互利共生是常见的、多样的，而且往往是古老的，它们对生物多样性和生态系统功能有重要影响。我的研究计划的长期目标是：1）测试，补充和扩展合作的进化理论，以了解互利主义和其他形式的合作如何在“欺骗的诱惑”下持续存在，2）超越欺骗，广泛地描述互利主义的生态和进化动力学。这项资助解决了关于互惠生态学和进化的四个基本问题：1）物种之间合作的特征是什么，防止作弊者的剥削，以及这些特征是如何进化的？2)在经典的植物-动物互惠共生中，候选基因如何调节互惠共生的质量？3)互惠共生是否会在共同引入的物种之间产生正反馈，从而促进生物入侵？以及4）多个动物互惠共生者如何共同对植物性状进行选择？为了回答这些问题，我和我的学生将在不同的系统中结合实验方法和分子和定量遗传分析，包括豆类根瘤菌，蚂蚁植物，授粉和种子传播互惠。这项研究将提高我们的理解如何在互惠共生的合作伙伴共同进化，互惠共生在塑造性状进化的作用，互惠共生的生态社区，他们嵌入的后果，互惠共生作为生态变化的驱动力。它还将为高素质的学生和博士后研究员提供生态学和进化生物学方面的广泛培训，特别是如何进行严格的，操纵性的田间和温室实验，以及遗传学的几个分支和合作进化的理论。这种综合方法鼓励高年级本科生，研究生和博士后的智力发展，并将为他们在基础和应用研究环境中的职业生涯做好准备。

Understanding how cooperation evolves despite selection for "cheating" is a central problem in evolutionary biology. The evolution of cooperation between species, or mutualism, is especially perplexing because partners do not share genes, precluding inclusive fitness benefits. Yet mutualisms are common, diverse, and often ancient, and they have important consequences for biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. The long-term objectives of my research program are: 1) to test, complement, and extend theory on the evolution of cooperation to understand how mutualisms and other forms of cooperation persist despite the "temptation to cheat," and 2) to look beyond cheating to broadly characterize the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of mutualisms.***This grant addresses four fundamental questions about mutualism ecology and evolution: 1) What traits select for cooperation between species, preventing exploitation by cheaters, and how do these traits evolve? 2) How does a candidate gene modulate mutualist quality in a classic plant-animal mutualism? 3) Does mutualism generate positive feedback between co-introduced species that facilitates biological invasions? And 4) how do multiple animal mutualists collectively exert selection on plant traits? To answer these questions, my students and I will couple experimental methods with molecular and quantitative genetic analyses in diverse systems, including legume-rhizobium, ant-plant, pollination, and seed dispersal mutualisms. This research will improve our understanding of how partners in mutualisms coevolve, the role of mutualism in shaping trait evolution, the consequences of mutualisms for the ecological communities in which they are embedded, and mutualisms as drivers of ecological change. It will also provide high-caliber students and postdoctoral fellows with broad training in ecology and evolutionary biology, especially in how to conduct rigorous, manipulative field and greenhouse experiments, as well as in several branches of genetics and in theory on the evolution of cooperation. This integrative approach encourages the intellectual development of advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows, and will prepare them for careers in basic and applied research environments.**