Foster K R, Wenseleers T
Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, Institute for Advanced Study, Berlin, Germany.
J Evol Biol. 2006 Jul;19(4):1283-93. doi: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2005.01073.x.
The evolution of mutualisms presents a puzzle. Why does selection favour cooperation among species rather than cheaters that accept benefits but provide nothing in return? Here we present a general model that predicts three key factors will be important in mutualism evolution: (i) high benefit to cost ratio, (ii) high within-species relatedness and (iii) high between-species fidelity. These factors operate by moderating three types of feedback benefit from mutualism: cooperator association, partner-fidelity feedback and partner choice. In defining the relationship between these processes, our model also allows an assessment of their relative importance. Importantly, the model suggests that phenotypic feedbacks (partner-fidelity feedback, partner choice) are a more important explanation for between-species cooperation than the development of genetic correlations among species (cooperator association). We explain the relationship of our model to existing theories and discuss the empirical evidence for our predictions.
互利共生的进化存在一个谜题。为什么自然选择更青睐物种间的合作，而非那些接受益处却不提供任何回报的欺骗者呢？在此，我们提出一个通用模型，该模型预测在互利共生进化中三个关键因素将至关重要：（i）高收益成本比，（ii）物种内的高亲缘关系，以及（iii）物种间的高忠诚度。这些因素通过调节互利共生的三种反馈益处来发挥作用：合作者关联、伙伴忠诚度反馈和伙伴选择。在定义这些过程之间的关系时，我们的模型还允许对它们的相对重要性进行评估。重要的是，该模型表明表型反馈（伙伴忠诚度反馈、伙伴选择）比物种间遗传相关性的发展（合作者关联）更能解释物种间的合作。我们解释了我们的模型与现有理论的关系，并讨论了支持我们预测的实证证据。
