Mutualism

Edited by Judith L. Bronstein

The first synthetic, conceptual overview of mutualism in almost thirty years, edited by a senior authority in the field
Identifies the ecological and evolutionary features that unite and divide mutualisms, placing them in clear relation to other pairwise, interspecific interactions
Text boxes elaborate upon specific conceptual examples or introduce readers to exciting ideas and emerging tools
Chapter contributors comprise a blend of youth and experience to provide an authoritative, dynamic, and forward-looking approach

Mutualism

Edited by Judith L. Bronstein

Description

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.

This volume, 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 this book 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.

Mutualism

Edited by Judith L. Bronstein

Section 1
1. The Study of Mutualism, Judith L. Bronstein
2. The Special Case of Symbioses: Mutualisms with Persistent Contact, Angela E Douglas
Section 2
3. Evolutionary Origins and Diversification of Mutualism, George D. Weiblen and Erin L. Treiber
4. Evolutionary Models of Mutualism, Erol Akcay
5. Evolution and Genetics of Mutualism, Carina A. Baskett and Douglas W. Schemske
6. The Exploitation of Mutualisms, Joel L. Sachs
7. Coevolution in Mutualisms, Bruce Anderson
Section 3
8. Population Ecology of Mutualism, J. Nathaniel Holland
9. Mutualism in a Community Context, Todd M. Palmer, Elizabeth G. Pringle, Adrian Stier and Robert D. Holt
10. Context-Dependent Outcomes of Mutualistic Interactions, Jason D. Hoeksema and Emilio M. Bruna
11. Mutualistic Networks, Jordi Bascompte and Jens M. Olesen
12. Mutualisms and Ecosystem Level Processes, Nancy Collins Johnson
Section 4
13. Global Change and Mutualisms, E. Toby Kiers, Anthony R. Ives and Atsushi Kawakita
14. Conserving and Restoring Mutualisms, Rachael Winfree, Molly MacLeod, Tina Harrison, and Daniel P. Cariveau

Mutualism

Edited by Judith L. Bronstein

Author Information

Judith L. Bronstein, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, USA

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
Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Bruce Anderson
Department of Botany and Zoology, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa

Jordi Bascompte
Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Switzerland

Carina A. Baskett
Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

Brendan Bohannan
Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA

Judith L. Bronstein
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

Emilio M. Bruna
Department of Wildlife Ecology & Conservation, and Center for Latin American Studies, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

Redouan Bshary
Laboratoire d'éco-éthologie, Université De Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

Daniel P. Cariveau
Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

Daniel F. Doak
Department of Environmental Studies, University of Colorado-Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA

Angela Douglas
Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

Megan Frederickson
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Canada

Maren L. Friesen
Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

Tamar L. Goulet
Department of Biology, University of Mississippi, University, MS, USA

Roger Guimerà
Department d'Enginyeria Química, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain

Tina Harrison
Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

Jason D. Hoeksema
Department of Biology, University of Mississippi, University, MS, USA

J. Nathaniel Holland
Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA

Robert D. Holt
Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

Jiri Hulcr
School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

Gregory Hurst
Department of Evolution, Ecology and Behaviour, University of Liverpool, UK

Brian D. Inouye
Department of Biological Science, The Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA

Anthony R. Ives
Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA

John Jaenike
Department of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA

Nancy Collins Johnson
School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA

Atsushi Kawakita
Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, Otsu, Shiga, Japan

E. Toby Kiers
Department of Ecological Science, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands

David Kleijn
Alterra, Wageningen University & Research Centre, Wageningen, The Netherlands

Conrad C. Labandeira
Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, USA

Anna-Liisa Laine
Center-of-Excellence in Metapopulation Biology, Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Finland

Louis J. Lamit
School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, USA

Jonathan Leake
Department of Animal & Plant Sciences, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

Charlotte T. Lee
Biology Department, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

Silvia B. Lomáscolo
National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Buenos Aires F.D., Argentina

Molly MacLeod
Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

Kevin McCann
Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

John McCutcheon
Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA

Tom E.X. Miller
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA

Ulrich G. Mueller
Section of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

Michele K. Nishiguchi
Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA

Scott L. Nuismer
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, USA

Jens M. Olesen
Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Denmark

Todd M. Palmer
Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

John M. Pandolfi
Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia

Stephanie Porter
Department of Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA

Elizabeth G. Pringle
Michigan Society of Fellows, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

John Rawls
Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

Joel L. Sachs
Department of Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA

Eugenia M. Sampayo
Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia

Robert L. Sanford, Jr
School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA

Douglas W. Schemske
Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

Kari A. Segraves
Department of Biology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA

Ellen Simms
Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA

Diana L. Six
Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA

Michael Stat
The Oceans Institute and Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia

Adrian Stier
Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Erin L. Treiber
Department of Plant Biology, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN, USA

Jason Tylianakis
School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

George D. Weiblen
Bell Museum and Department of Plant Biology, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN, USA

Noah Whiteman
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA

Thomas G. Whitham
Department of Biological Sciences and Merriam-Powell Center for Environmental Research, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA

Peter Wilf
Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

Rachael Winfree
Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

Timothy Wootton
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

Mutualism

Edited by Judith L. Bronstein

Reviews and Awards

"It is difficult for any one person to provide an overview of mutualism biology, but Judith Bronstein has assembled a formidable team of authors for this edited volume, all experts in their field, who largely succeed in providing a snapshot of the state of the art of mutualism research. The inclusion of numerous information boxes by additional authors provides extra depth and supplementary viewpoints that increase the usefulness of the book.[...] highly relevant for general conservation biology, given the increasing recognition of the frequency of mutualistic interactions in the wild and how they shape both ecosystems and the life histories of particular species." -- David Nash, Conservation Biology

"[T]his book is an impressive and important contribution to the field and I enthusiastically recommend it to readers [...]. This book will be particularly beneficial to graduate students developing ideas for independent research. It will also likely serve as the go-to reference for both basic and applied professionals who study species interactions. The engaging and clear language used throughout the book make it an accessible resource for public audiences and undergraduates as well. I look forward to reading about the research inspired by Mutualism." -- Ecological Restoration Journal

"Recommended." --CHOICE

"The intellectual quality of the volume is matched by exceptionally good editing. ... Bronstein has done an admirable job both managing her many authors and tying together their sections with her own text." --Integrative and Comparative Biology