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Diversification through multitrait evolution in a coevolving interaction.

John N Thompson1, Christopher Schwind, Paulo R Guimarães

  • 1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA. jnthomp@ucsc.edu

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|June 27, 2013
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Mutualisms can diversify even without being strictly obligate. Experimental studies on woodland star plants and Greya moths show that these species maintain pollination and reproduction, even when the interaction is not fully reciprocal.

Keywords:
coevolutioncorrelated traitsgeographic divergencetrait matching

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Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Botany

Background:

  • Mutualisms, where species exploit each other for mutual benefit, are common in nature.
  • Obligate mutualisms, such as those between certain plants and insects, can drive coevolution and diversification.
  • Understanding the early stages of mutualism evolution is challenging due to the lack of intermediate forms.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether mutualisms can diversify before becoming reciprocally obligate.
  • To examine the interaction between woodland star (Lithophragma) plants and Greya moths, a model system for incompletely obligate mutualism.
  • To determine the role of specific traits in maintaining mutualistic interactions.

Main Methods:

  • Experimental assessment of pollination in different Lithophragma species.
  • Quantitative evaluation of pollination using time-lapse photography.
  • Analysis of surgically manipulated flowers to observe pollination dynamics.

Main Results:

  • Woodland star plants and Greya moths have coevolved to maintain effective oviposition and pollination.
  • Various trait combinations can sustain the mutualistic interaction.
  • The study identified that mutualism can persist and diversify even when not reciprocally obligate.

Conclusions:

  • Mutualistic interactions do not need to be strictly obligate to diversify.
  • The findings provide insights into the evolutionary pathways of mutualisms.
  • This research highlights the flexibility of mutualistic systems in response to evolutionary pressures.