Korb Judith
Biologie I, University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany.
Biol Lett. 2006 Sep 22;2(3):364-6. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2006.0497.
The evolution of cooperation and altruistic behaviour where individuals forego their own reproduction to help others reproduce can be explained by kin selection. Depending on the costs and benefits provided, altruism can be evolutionarily favoured if it is directed at close relatives. A considerable body of data supports the role of relatedness as a key determinant of cooperation and conflict within societies. However, the role of ecological factors and, in particular, how these costs and benefits interact with relatedness remains poorly understood. By studying 16 colonies, here I show that in a drywood termite ecological factors determine the importance of relatedness. In colonies with limited food supply, nestmates restrict cooperative interactions mainly to close relatives, while non-discriminative cooperation occurs when food is abundant. This shows for the first time directly the interaction between ecological conditions and relatedness in shaping cooperation.
合作行为和利他行为的进化，即个体放弃自身繁殖以帮助其他个体繁殖，这一现象可以通过亲缘选择来解释。根据所提供的成本和收益，如果利他行为针对的是近亲，那么从进化角度来看它会受到青睐。大量数据支持亲缘关系作为社会中合作与冲突的关键决定因素所起的作用。然而，生态因素的作用，尤其是这些成本和收益如何与亲缘关系相互作用，仍然知之甚少。通过对16个蚁群的研究，我在此表明，在干燥木材白蚁中，生态因素决定了亲缘关系的重要性。在食物供应有限的蚁群中，同巢伙伴将合作互动主要限制在近亲之间，而当食物充足时则会出现无差别合作。这首次直接展示了生态条件与亲缘关系在塑造合作过程中的相互作用。
