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Partner abundance controls mutualism stability and the pace of morphological change over geologic time.

ABSTRACT: Mutualisms that involve symbioses among specialized partners may be more stable than mutualisms among generalists, and theoretical models predict that in many mutualisms, partners exert reciprocal stabilizing selection on traits directly involved in the interaction. A corollary is that mutualism breakdown should increase morphological rates of evolution. We here use the largest ant-plant clade (Hydnophytinae), with different levels of specialization for mutualistic ant symbionts, to study the ecological context of mutualism breakdown and the response of a key symbiosis-related trait, domatium entrance hole size, which filters symbionts by size. Our analyses support three predictions from mutualism theory. First, all 12 losses apparently only occur from a generalist symbiotic state. Second, mutualism losses occurred where symbionts are scarce, in our system at high altitudes. Third, domatium entrance hole size barely changes in specialized symbiotic species, but evolves rapidly once symbiosis with ants has broken down, with a "morphorate map" revealing that hotspots of entrance hole evolution are clustered in high-altitude areas. Our study reveals that mutualistic strategy profoundly affects the pace of morphological change in traits involved in the interaction and suggests that shifts in partners' relative abundances may frequently drive reversions of generalist mutualisms to autonomy.

SUBMITTER: Chomicki G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5393197 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Partner abundance controls mutualism stability and the pace of morphological change over geologic time.

Chomicki Guillaume G Renner Susanne S SS

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20170324 15

Mutualisms that involve symbioses among specialized partners may be more stable than mutualisms among generalists, and theoretical models predict that in many mutualisms, partners exert reciprocal stabilizing selection on traits directly involved in the interaction. A corollary is that mutualism breakdown should increase morphological rates of evolution. We here use the largest ant-plant clade (Hydnophytinae), with different levels of specialization for mutualistic ant symbionts, to study the ec ...[more]

PMID: 28341706

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Project description:Human impact influences morphological variation in animals, as documented in many captive and domestic animal populations. However, there are different levels of human impact, and their influence on the pattern and rate of morphological variation remains unclear. This study contributes to the ongoing debate via the examination of cranial and mandibular shape and size variation and pace of change in Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata). This species is ideal for tackling such questions because different wild, wild-provisioned, and captive populations have been monitored and collected over seven decades. Linear measurements were taken on 70 skulls from five populations, grouped into three 'human impact groups' (wild, wild-provisioned, and captive). This made it possible to investigate the pattern and pace of skull form changes among the human impact groups as well as over time within the populations. It was found that the overall skull shape tends to differ among the human impact groups, with captive macaques having relatively longer rostra than wild ones. Whether these differences are a result of geographic variation or variable human impact, related to nutritional supply and mechanical properties of the diet, is unclear. However, this pattern of directed changes did not seem to hold when the single captive populations were examined in detail. Although environmental conditions have probably been similar for the two examined captive populations (same captive locality), skull shape changes over the first generations in captivity were mostly different. This varying pattern, together with a consistent decrease in body size in the captive populations over generations, points to genetic drift playing a role in shaping skull shape and body size in captivity. In the captive groups investigated here, the rates of change were found to be high compared to literature records from settings featuring different degrees of human impact in different species, although they still lie in the range of field studies in a natural context. This adds to the view that human impact might not necessarily lead to particularly fast rates of change.

Dataset Information

Partner abundance controls mutualism stability and the pace of morphological change over geologic time.

Publications

Partner abundance controls mutualism stability and the pace of morphological change over geologic time.

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