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Multispecies individuals
Pierrick Bourrat1,2,3, Paul E Griffiths4
1Department of Philosophy, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, 2109, Australia. p.bourrat@gmail.com.
History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences
|May 16, 2018
Summary
This study questions the definition of biological individuals, specifically holobionts. It argues that current evidence for multi-species individuals is insufficient, emphasizing the need to distinguish biological from evolutionary individuality.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Microbiology
- Ecology
Background:
- The concept of 'holobionts' proposes functionally integrated multispecies consortia as biological individuals.
- Distinguishing true biological individuals from mere ecological dependence is a significant challenge in evolutionary biology.
Purpose of the Study:
- To critically assess the criteria for recognizing functionally integrated multispecies consortia as biological individuals.
- To differentiate between cases of true multispecies individuality and ecological dependence within consortia.
- To re-evaluate the arguments supporting the holobiont concept as a unit of evolution.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of two distinct multispecies consortia with shared core biochemical processes.
- Examination of arguments for biological individuality in light of these examples.
- Application of concepts of evolutionary individuality, focusing on partner fitness alignment.
Main Results:
- Identified flaws in widely used arguments for the holobiont concept, as they apply ambiguously to both examples.
- Demonstrated that fitness alignment between consortium partners is a key differentiator for evolutionary individuality.
- Highlighted that current evidence for widespread multispecies individuals may not be pertinent to evolutionary individuality.
Conclusions:
- The current evidence for multispecies individuals is not convincing for establishing a new level of biological individuality.
- The concept of evolutionary individuality, specifically partner fitness alignment, is crucial for defining multispecies individuals.
- Future research must clearly separate the concepts of biological and evolutionary individuality to advance the study of holobionts.
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