"Promising Directions in Mutualism Theory"Bronstein, JudithResearch on mutualism (beneficial interactions between different species) has surged over the past two decades. Its ecological and evolutionary dynamics remain poorly understood, however, creating a critical need for theory. Current theory for mutualism does not form a cohesive body: it employs a wide variety of modeling approaches and is spread thinly over a wide range of topics. This talk will provide an overview and synthesis of work in this field. I highlight four fundamental questions about mutualism: How does it arise? How and when can it persist evolutionarily? How are communities of mutualistic interactions structured? Finally, can we predict the future of mutualisms in the face of anthropogenic change? I focus less on what theory has revealed to date, and more on exciting directions for future research. More generally, I discuss why theoretical advances are badly needed if we aim to achieve a synthetic understanding of the role of mutualism in nature. |
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