Ecological drivers of the evolution of public-goods cooperation in bacteria.

The role of ecological processes in the evolution of social traits is increasingly recognized. Here, we explore, using a general theoretical model and experiments with bacteria, the joint effects of disturbance frequency and resource supply on the evolution of cooperative biofilm formation. Our resu...

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Main Authors: Brockhurst, M, Habets, MG, Libberton, B, Buckling, A, Gardner, A
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 2010
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author Brockhurst, M
Habets, MG
Libberton, B
Buckling, A
Gardner, A
author_facet Brockhurst, M
Habets, MG
Libberton, B
Buckling, A
Gardner, A
author_sort Brockhurst, M
collection OXFORD
description The role of ecological processes in the evolution of social traits is increasingly recognized. Here, we explore, using a general theoretical model and experiments with bacteria, the joint effects of disturbance frequency and resource supply on the evolution of cooperative biofilm formation. Our results demonstrate that cooperation tends to peak at intermediate frequencies of disturbance but that the peak shifts toward progressively higher frequencies of disturbance as resource supply increases. This appears to arise due to increased growth rates at higher levels of resource supply, which allows cooperators to more rapidly exceed the density threshold above which cooperation is beneficial following catastrophic disturbance. These findings demonstrate for the first time the importance of interactions between ecological processes in the evolution of public-goods cooperation and suggest that cooperation can be favored by selection across a wide range of ecological conditions.
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spelling oxford-uuid:258494e0-ae59-475b-a796-789cfad653852022-03-26T11:56:06ZEcological drivers of the evolution of public-goods cooperation in bacteria.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:258494e0-ae59-475b-a796-789cfad65385EnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2010Brockhurst, MHabets, MGLibberton, BBuckling, AGardner, AThe role of ecological processes in the evolution of social traits is increasingly recognized. Here, we explore, using a general theoretical model and experiments with bacteria, the joint effects of disturbance frequency and resource supply on the evolution of cooperative biofilm formation. Our results demonstrate that cooperation tends to peak at intermediate frequencies of disturbance but that the peak shifts toward progressively higher frequencies of disturbance as resource supply increases. This appears to arise due to increased growth rates at higher levels of resource supply, which allows cooperators to more rapidly exceed the density threshold above which cooperation is beneficial following catastrophic disturbance. These findings demonstrate for the first time the importance of interactions between ecological processes in the evolution of public-goods cooperation and suggest that cooperation can be favored by selection across a wide range of ecological conditions.
spellingShingle Brockhurst, M
Habets, MG
Libberton, B
Buckling, A
Gardner, A
Ecological drivers of the evolution of public-goods cooperation in bacteria.
title Ecological drivers of the evolution of public-goods cooperation in bacteria.
title_full Ecological drivers of the evolution of public-goods cooperation in bacteria.
title_fullStr Ecological drivers of the evolution of public-goods cooperation in bacteria.
title_full_unstemmed Ecological drivers of the evolution of public-goods cooperation in bacteria.
title_short Ecological drivers of the evolution of public-goods cooperation in bacteria.
title_sort ecological drivers of the evolution of public goods cooperation in bacteria
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AT habetsmg ecologicaldriversoftheevolutionofpublicgoodscooperationinbacteria
AT libbertonb ecologicaldriversoftheevolutionofpublicgoodscooperationinbacteria
AT bucklinga ecologicaldriversoftheevolutionofpublicgoodscooperationinbacteria
AT gardnera ecologicaldriversoftheevolutionofpublicgoodscooperationinbacteria