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Coevolution in temporally variable environments.

Scott L Nuismer1, Richard Gomulkiewicz, Martin T Morgan

  • 11. Section of Integrative Biology C0930, University of Texas, Austin, Texas, 78712, USA. snuismer@uidaho.edu

The American Naturalist
|July 15, 2003
PubMed
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Coevolutionary matching occurs when the average interaction is beneficial. Temporal fluctuations between mutualism and antagonism can maintain trait diversity and cycles without gene flow.

Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Theoretical ecology
  • Population genetics

Background:

  • Many symbiotic interactions are conditional, shifting between mutualism and antagonism.
  • Environmental variability in space and time affects the dynamics of these interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To model the coevolution of matching traits in host-mutualist systems with temporally fluctuating interactions.
  • To identify conditions favoring the evolution of trait matching versus polymorphism.

Main Methods:

  • Developed a genetic model of coevolution with stochastic fluctuations between mutualism and antagonism.
  • Employed analytical approximations and numerical simulations to analyze model dynamics.
  • Compared results with spatial models incorporating gene flow.

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Main Results:

  • Trait matching evolves if the geometric mean interaction is mutualistic.
  • Polymorphism and trait mismatching persist when the geometric mean is not mutualistic, potentially leading to coevolutionary cycles.
  • Temporal autocorrelation does not disrupt these predictions.
  • Gene flow is not required to explain patterns predicted by the geographic mosaic theory.

Conclusions:

  • The conditions for coevolutionary trait matching depend on the average interaction strength over time.
  • Temporal variability can maintain diversity and complex dynamics in conditional mutualisms.
  • Coevolutionary patterns observed in nature can arise from local dynamics without large-scale gene flow.