The symbiotic habit / Angela E. Douglas.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Douglas, Angela E., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Symbiosis.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (218 pages)

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2010]

Summary:

Throughout the natural world, organisms have responded to predators, inadequate resources, or inclement conditions by forming ongoing mutually beneficial partnerships--or symbioses--with different species. Symbiosis is the foundation for major evolutionary events, such as the emergence of eukaryotes and plant eating among vertebrates, and is also a crucial factor in shaping many ecological communities. The Symbiotic Habit provides an accessible and authoritative introduction to symbiosis, describing how symbioses are established, function, and persist in evolutionary and ecological time. Angela Douglas explains the evolutionary origins and development of symbiosis, and illustrates the principles of symbiosis using a variety of examples of symbiotic relationships as well as nonsymbiotic ones, such as parasitic or fleeting mutualistic associations. Although the reciprocal exchange of benefit is the key feature of symbioses, the benefits are often costly to provide, causing conflict among the partners. Douglas shows how these conflicts can be managed by a single controlling organism that may selectively reward cooperative partners, control partner transmission, and employ recognition mechanisms that discriminate between beneficial and potentially harmful or ineffective partners.The Symbiotic Habit reveals the broad uniformity of symbiotic process across many different symbioses among organisms with diverse evolutionary histories, and demonstrates how symbioses can be used to manage ecosystems, enhance food production, and promote human health.

Contents:

Cover Page

Half-title Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Contents

Preface

Chapter 1: The Significance of Symbiosis

Chapter 2: Evolutionary Origins and Fates of Organisms in Symbiosis

Chapter 3: Conflict and Conflict Resolution

Chapter 4: Choosing and Chosen:Establishment and Persistence of Symbioses

Chapter 5: The Success of Symbiosis

Chapter 6: Perspectives

References

Index.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781400835430

1400835437

OCLC:

1261367938