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Ecological interactions are evolutionarily conserved across the entire tree of life

Author

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  • José M. Gómez

    (Universidad de Granada)

  • Miguel Verdú

    (Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificación, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universidad de Valencia-Generalitat Valenciana)

  • Francisco Perfectti

    (Universidad de Granada)

Abstract

Ecological interactions The characteristics that regulate species interactions are largely inherited, so it seems logical to expect that closely related organisms are more likely to have similar ecological interactions than less related ones. Few studies have been done on this relationship, and those that have tend to focus on specialized organisms, such as parasites or insect herbivores. A new analysis of the evolution of host use in a diverse group of interactions comprising both specialist and generalist, acellular, unicellular and multicellular organisms, and including all types of interaction, finds support for the evolutionary conservation of ecological interactions across all species. The same rules seem to drive the evolution of most ecological interactions, and are strongly contributing to the organization of biodiversity on Earth.

Suggested Citation

  • José M. Gómez & Miguel Verdú & Francisco Perfectti, 2010. "Ecological interactions are evolutionarily conserved across the entire tree of life," Nature, Nature, vol. 465(7300), pages 918-921, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:465:y:2010:i:7300:d:10.1038_nature09113
    DOI: 10.1038/nature09113
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    Cited by:

    1. Martín Piazzon & Asier R Larrinaga & Luis Santamaría, 2011. "Are Nested Networks More Robust to Disturbance? A Test Using Epiphyte-Tree, Comensalistic Networks," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(5), pages 1-10, May.

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