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Joint evolution of interspecific mutualism and regulation of variation of interaction under directional selection in trait space

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Abstract

The present study theoretically examines the process by which interspecific mutualism is established with trait matching. The mathematical model includes joint evolution of the mutualistic relationship between two species and regulation of variation of interaction in one-dimensional trait space, assuming abiotic directional selection. The model considers three types of regulation: homeostasis against environmental variation, developmental stability, and acceptability of dissimilar mutualism partners (mutualism kernel). Mainly focusing on the developmental stability, the analysis indicates that the mutualism can evolve when (1) higher levels of developmental stability are more intensively degenerated by deleterious mutations, (2) the basal rate of deleterious mutation is low, (3) trait expression is less influenced by environmental factors, and (4) the specificity of mutualism is high. It also shows that the evolution of developmental stability can promote the evolution of mutualism with trait matching when the deleterious mutation bias disappears at a certain level of developmental instability. Evolution of homeostasis and mutualism kernel can be discussed in the similar way because of formal similarities in the model. In plant–pollinator interactions, it has recently been proposed that evolutionary increments of developmental stability in mutualistic traits might promote plant diversification. The present results partly support this hypothesis with respect to the evolutionary relationship between mutualism and developmental stability.

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Acknowledgements

I thank the members of the Centre for Ecological Research for their comments and encouragement. This research was supported financially by the JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers 15K07219. This research was partly supported by the International Research Unit of Advanced Future Studies at Kyoto University. I also appreciate helpful suggestions and comments of Dr. A. Rossberg and an anonymous reviewer.

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  1. Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, Hirano 2-509-3, Otsu, 520-2113, Japan

    Atsushi Yamauchi

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  1. Atsushi Yamauchi
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Correspondence to Atsushi Yamauchi.

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Yamauchi, A. Joint evolution of interspecific mutualism and regulation of variation of interaction under directional selection in trait space. Theor Ecol 10, 477–491 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12080-017-0343-2

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