Mutualism

About this book

Mutualisms, interactions between two species that benefit both of them, have long captured the public imagination. Their influence transcends levels of biological organization from cells to populations, communities, and ecosystems. Mutualistic symbioses were crucial to the origin of eukaryotic cells, and perhaps to the invasion of land. Mutualisms occur in every terrestrial and aquatic habitat; indeed, ecologists now believe that almost every species on Earth is involved directly or indirectly in one or more of these interactions. Mutualisms are essential to the reproduction and survival of virtually all organisms, as well as to nutrient cycles in ecosystems. Furthermore, the key ecosystem services that mutualists provide mean that they are increasingly being considered as conservation priorities, ironically at the same time as the acute risks to their ecological and evolutionary persistence are increasingly being identified.

Mutualism, the first general work on mutualism to appear in almost thirty years, provides a detailed and conceptually-oriented overview of the subject. Focusing on a range of ecological and evolutionary aspects over different scales (from individual to ecosystem), the chapters in Mutualism provide expert coverage of our current understanding of mutualism whilst highlighting the most important questions that remain to be answered. In bringing together a diverse team of expert contributors, this novel text captures the excitement of a dynamic field that will help to define its future research agenda.

Contents

Section 1
1: Judith L. Bronstein: The Study of Mutualism
2: Angela E Douglas: The Special Case of Symbioses: Mutualisms with Persistent Contact

Section 2
3: George D. Weiblen and Erin L. Treiber: Evolutionary Origins and Diversification of Mutualism
4: Erol Akçay: Evolutionary Models of Mutualism
5: Carina A. Baskett and Douglas W. Schemske: Evolution and Genetics of Mutualism
6: Joel L. Sachs: The Exploitation of Mutualisms
7: Bruce Anderson: Coevolution in Mutualisms

Section 3
8: J. Nathaniel Holland: Population Ecology of Mutualism
9: Todd M. Palmer, Elizabeth G. Pringle, Adrian Stier and Robert D. Holt: Mutualism in a Community Context
10: Jason D. Hoeksema and Emilio M. Bruna: Context-Dependent Outcomes of Mutualistic Interactions
11: Jordi Bascompte and Jens M. Olesen: Mutualistic Networks
12: Nancy Collins Johnson: Mutualisms and Ecosystem Level Processes

Section 4
13: E. Toby Kiers, Anthony R. Ives and Atsushi Kawakita: Global Change and Mutualisms
14: Rachael Winfree, Molly MacLeod, Tina Harrison, and Daniel P. Cariveau: Conserving and Restoring Mutualisms

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Biography

Judith L. Bronstein is University Distinguished Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, with a joint appointment in the Department of Entomology, at the University of Arizona. She has published over 100 papers, primarily on mutualism; in addition to her studies on pollination and protection mutualisms, she has worked to develop a conceptual framework for this field since receiving her PhD. An award-winning instructor, she teaches ecology at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. She is currently Editor-in-Chief of The American Naturalist and Advisory Editor for Oxford Bibliographies Online: Ecology. She received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Science Foundation in 2008.


Contributors:
Erol Akçay
Bruce Anderson
Jordi Bascompte
Carina A. Baskett
Brendan Bohannan
Judith L. Bronstein
Emilio M. Bruna
Redouan Bshary
Daniel P. Cariveau
Daniel F. Doak
Angela Douglas
Megan Frederickson
Maren L. Friesen
Tamar L. Goulet
Roger Guimerà
Tina Harrison
Jason D. Hoeksema
J. Nathaniel Holland
Robert D. Holt
Jiri Hulcr
Gregory Hurst
Brian D. Inouye
Anthony R. Ives
John Jaenike
Nancy Collins Johnson
Atsushi Kawakita
E. Toby Kiers
David Kleijn
Conrad C. Labandeira
Anna-Liisa Laine
Louis J. Lamit
Jonathan Leake
Charlotte T. Lee
Silvia B. Lomáscolo
Molly MacLeod
Kevin McCann
John McCutcheon
Tom E.X. Miller
Ulrich G. Mueller
Michele K. Nishiguchi
Scott L. Nuismer
Jens M. Olesen
Todd M. Palmer
John M. Pandolfi
Stephanie Porter
Elizabeth G. Pringle
John Rawls
Joel L. Sachs
Eugenia M. Sampayo
Robert L. Sanford, Jr
Douglas W. Schemske
Kari A. Segraves
Ellen Simms
Diana L. Six
Michael Stat
Adrian Stier
Erin L. Treiber
Jason Tylianakis
George D. Weiblen
Noah Whiteman
Thomas G. Whitham
Peter Wilf
Rachael Winfree
Timothy Wootton