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Published on: November 25, 2016
The evolution of plant-insect mutualisms.
Judith L Bronstein1, Ruben Alarcón, Monica Geber
1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85745, USA. judieb@email.arizona.edu
The New Phytologist
|November 7, 2006
Summary
Mutualisms between insects and plants, such as pollination and seed dispersal, are vital for life. Evolutionary processes shape these interactions, with cheating being common, especially by insects.
Area of Science:
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
- Plant-Animal Interactions
- Mutualism
Background:
- Mutualisms, cooperative species interactions, are fundamental to life's evolution.
- Insect-plant mutualisms, including pollination, protection, and seed dispersal, are diverse and significant.
- Understanding the evolutionary dynamics of these relationships is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the evolutionary features of prominent insect-plant mutualisms.
- To address key phenomena: origins, maintenance, trait evolution, specialization, coevolution, and cheating.
- To identify unifying features and discuss their evolutionary implications.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of evolutionary aspects of insect-plant mutualisms.
- Analysis of five central evolutionary phenomena.
- Identification of common characteristics across diverse interactions.
Main Results:
- Common features include mobile-sedentary partner dynamics, selection on plant rewards, a specialization-generalization continuum, and prevalent insect cheating.
- Plant-insect mutualisms exhibit repeated origins and losses.
- No single hypothesis fully explains transitions across diverse interactions.
Conclusions:
- Evolutionary theory is essential for understanding the origins, maintenance, breakdown, and evolution of insect-plant mutualisms.
- The identified unifying features offer insights into the broader evolutionary dynamics of mutualisms.
- Further theoretical development is needed to fully explain these complex interactions.
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