Can mutualists foster coexistence among resource competitors?
Mark McPeek
To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour. William Blake (1757-1827)
Can mutualists foster coexistence among resource competitors?
Mark McPeek
Scaling up: microbiome manipulation for climate change adaptation in large organic vineyards
Carlos Pino and Diego GriffonInteraction network structure explains species’ temporal persistence in empirical plant–pollinator communities
Lynn Margulis presents the Gaia Hypothesis at NASA (1984)
Disruption of an ant-plant mutualism shapes interactions between lions and their primary prey
Kamaru et al., 2024
Mutualisms often define ecosystems, but they are susceptible to human activities. Combining experiments, animal tracking, and mortality investigations, we show that the invasive big-headed ant (Pheidole megacephala) makes lions (Panthera leo) less effective at killing their primary prey, plains zebra (Equus quagga). Big-headed ants disrupted the mutualism between native ants (Crematogaster spp.) and the dominant whistling-thorn tree (Vachellia drepanolobium), rendering trees vulnerable to elephant (Loxodonta africana) browsing and resulting in landscapes with higher visibility. Although zebra kills were significantly less likely to occur in higher-visibility, invaded areas, lion numbers did not decline since the onset of the invasion, likely because of prey-switching to African buffalo (Syncerus caffer). We show that by controlling biophysical structure across landscapes, a tiny invader reconfigured predator-prey dynamics among iconic species.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg1464
Coevolution of relationship and interaction in cooperative dynamical multiplex networks
Xiong et al., 2024.
While actors in a population can interact with anyone else freely, social relations significantly influence our inclination toward particular individuals. The consequence of such interactions, however, may also form the intensity of our relations established earlier. These dynamical processes are captured via a coevolutionary model staged in multiplex networks with two distinct layers. In a so-called relationship layer, the weights of edges among players may change in time as a consequence of games played in the alternative interaction layer. As an reasonable assumption, bilateral cooperation confirms while mutual defection weakens these weight factors. Importantly, the fitness of a player, which basically determines the success of a strategy imitation, depends not only on the payoff collected from interactions, but also on the individual relationship index calculated from the mentioned weight factors of related edges. Within the framework of weak prisoner’s dilemma situation, we explore the potential outcomes of the mentioned coevolutionary process where we assume different topologies for relationship layer. We find that higher average degree of the relationship graph is more beneficial to maintain cooperation in regular graphs, but the randomness of links could be a decisive factor in harsh situations. Surprisingly, a stronger coupling between relationship index and fitness discourage the evolution of cooperation by weakening the direct consequence of a strategy change. To complete our study, we also monitor how the distribution of relationship index vary and detect a strong relation between its polarization and the general cooperation level.
Two teosintes made modern maize
Yang et al., 2023
Extensive population and quantitative genetic analysis of domesticated maize and its wild relatives uncovered a substantial role for two different wild taxa in making modern maize. It is propose a new model for the origin of maize that can explain both genetic and archaeological data, and it is show how variation in Zea mays ssp. mexicana is a key component of maize diversity, both at individual loci and for genetic variation underlying agronomic traits.
The model raises a number of questions about how and why a secondary spread of maize may have occurred, but it is speculate that the timing of admixture suggests a possible direct role for hybridization between maize and Zea mays ssp. mexicana in improving early domesticated forms of maize, helping to transform it into the staple crop we know today.
Admixture analysis reveals widespread contributions of two teosintes to modern maize. (A) Proportion of highland teosinte admixture for traditional maize varieties across the Americas. (B) Admixture graph representing our model of maize evolution. (C) Cartoon depiction of proposed maize domestication and dispersal. (D) Characterization of admixture tracts along maize genomes. (E) Admixture for cob weight reveals a peak on chromosome 1.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg8940
Uniendo los Puntos:
Diego Griffon Briceño
Doctor en Ecología, Magíster en Entomología e Ingeniero Agrónomo. Consultor en modelaje matemático, simulación de procesos ecológicos, análisis de datos y aprendizaje estadístico en agroecosistemas. Profesor en la Universidad Central de Venezuela (cátedras Ecología de Poblaciones y Evolución) e investigador en las áreas de Ecología Teórica, Ecología Matemática y Agroecología.
Correo: diego.griffon@ciens.ucv.ve
Este blog tiene por objetivo la discusión de temas relacionados con Agroecología, Ecología social y Biocomplejidad.
Interacciones en la Agroecología
Número especial de la revista Acta Biologica Venezuelica
La Reina Roja
Reflexiones sobre el estado actual de la agricultura
"None of the human faculties should be excluded from scientific activity. The depths of intuition, a sure awareness of the present, mathematical profundity, physical exactitude, the heights of creative reason and sharpness of understanding, together with a versatile and ardent imagination and a loving delight in the world of the senses, they are all essential for a lively and productive apprehension of the moment."
J. W. Goethe (1749 - 1832)
No es una mercancía from Diego Griffon on Vimeo.
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Si me vas a pegar no me grites
Película experimental en la cual se explora la conexión existente entre el modelo civilizatorio hegemónico actual y el surgimiento de formas particulares de relación del ser humano con el resto de la naturaleza. La película está construida como un collage, en el cual la visión crítica de la ecología social sirve de hilo conductor. En ella se utiliza a la agricultura para mostrar como el modelo civilizatorio hegemónico determina la materialización de tipos particulares de relaciones sociales, a la par que conduce a formas específicas de comprender y vincularse con la naturaleza. En la película también se muestra que existen alternativas a la lógica dominante, alternativas que actualmente coexisten en resistencia, luchando por sobrevivir.
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.....Omnibus Dubitandum
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La orquídea de noche esconde
en su perfume
el blanco de su flor.
Yosa Buson (1716-1783)
Ecology has been eminently a descriptive science despite some pioneering work by theoreticians such as Lotka, Volterra, Nicholson, and others. Description is a first step toward understanding a system. However, such a first step needs to be accompanied by the development of a theoretical framework in order to achieve real insight and, whenever possible, predictive power.
Ricard V. Solé and Jordi Bascompte, 2006 (Self-Organization in Complex Ecosystems).
"Toda pregunta es siempre más que una pregunta, está probando una carencia, una ansiedad por llenar un hueco intelectual o psicológico, y hay muchas veces en que el hecho de encontrar una respuesta es menos importante que haber sido capaz de vivir a fondo la pregunta, de avanzar ansiosamente por las pistas que tiende a abrir en nosotros"
Julio Cortázar. Desafíos.