Evolutionary dynamics in mutualisms: reciprocal selection and cascading effects across communities

• Grant number: 16/20739-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: January 01, 2017
• End date: February 07, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Theoretical Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Paulo Roberto Guimarães Junior
• Grantee: Paulo Roberto Guimarães Junior
• Host Investigator: John N. Thompson
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz), United States

Abstract

Mutualisms are ecological interactions that affect ecological and evolutionary dynamics. The theoretical implications of mutualisms to evolutionary dynamics are often studied through the use of mathematical models in which pairs of species coevolve. However, at community level, mutualisms often form networks of interacting species. Thus, indirect effects may cascade across these interaction networks and affect the evolutionary dynamics in unexpected ways. We are just beginning to understand on how cascading effects may affect evolutionary dynamics in mutualisms by using mathematical models that use the network structure of mutualisms. In this study, we will explore how indirect effects may affect two fundamental aspects of coevolutionary dynamics. First, indirect effects may generate reciprocal selective effects among species that does not interact. Second, indirect effects may connect the coevolutionary dynamics of two localities through cascading effects. We will explore the patterns of reciprocal selection and the cascading effects in discrete-time coevolutionary models for mutualistic networks. We will parameterize these coevolutionary models with empirical data of mutualistic interactions. In a broader context, we expect to contribute to the emergence of a theory that integrates ecological interactions, coevolutionary dynamics, and spatial variation in species composition.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

MEDEIROS, LUCAS P.; GARCIA, GUILHERME; THOMPSON, JOHN N.; GUIMARAES, JR., PAULO R.. The geographic mosaic of coevolution in mutualistic networks. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, v. 115, n. 47, p. 12017-12022, NOV 20 2018. (16/20739-9, 15/12956-7, 17/08406-7)

BRAGA, MARIANA P.; GUIMARAES, JR., PAULO R.; WHEAT, CHRISTOPHER W.; NYLIN, SOREN; JANZ, NIKLAS. Unifying host-associated diversification processes using butterfly-plant networks. NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, v. 9, DEC 4 2018. (16/20739-9)

GUIMARAES, JR., PAULO R. .; PIRES, MATHIAS M.; JORDANO, PEDRO; BASCOMPTE, JORDI; THOMPSON, JOHN N.. Indirect effects drive coevolution in mutualistic networks. Nature, v. 550, n. 7677, p. 511+, OCT 26 2017. (16/20739-9, 13/22016-6)