Using ant/plant symbioses to understand the evolution of cooperation among species
| Dates: | 6 February 2019 |
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| Times: | 13:00 - 14:00 |
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| What is it: | Seminar |
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| Organiser: | Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences |
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| Who is it for: | University staff, External researchers, Adults, Alumni, Current University students, General public |
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| Speaker: | Guillaume Chomicki, Dept. Plant Sciences, University of Oxford |
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Widespread in nature, mutualistic associations –cooperative interactions between unrelated species– are linked to major evolutionary transitions in life history, and are pivotal for ecosystem functioning. The evolution of mutualisms has long been a riddle: while they are thought to be prone to breakdown, some have persisted for millions of years. Theory predicts that mutualists frequently turn into parasites and exploit their partner, yet this appear rare empirically. Besides cheating, a number of other factors could lead to conflict and threaten mutualism. Drawing on examples from my research on ant/plant symbioses, I will highlight how ant/plant symbioses can illuminate key issues in mutualism evolution. I will focus on four main questions: (i) is mutualism prone to cheating? (ii) do mutualistic traits evolved under a Red Queen dynamics? (iii) How do specialized mutualisms cope with exploiters? And (iv) how generalist symbioses with multiple partners can be stabilized?
Speaker
Guillaume Chomicki, Dept. Plant Sciences, University of Oxford
Travel and Contact Information
Find event
G.03
Williamson Building
Manchester
