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Selection on non‐social traits limits the invasion of social cheats
Author(s) -
Morgan Andrew D.,
Quigley Benjamin J. Z.,
Brown Sam P.,
Buckling Angus
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
ecology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.852
H-Index - 265
eISSN - 1461-0248
pISSN - 1461-023X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2012.01805.x
Subject(s) - biology , selection (genetic algorithm) , abiotic component , natural selection , ecology , population , pseudomonas fluorescens , frequency dependent selection , evolutionary biology , genetics , bacteria , sociology , demography , computer science , artificial intelligence
While the conditions that favour the maintenance of cooperation have been extensively investigated, the significance of non‐social selection pressures on social behaviours has received little attention. In the absence of non‐social selection pressures, patches of cooperators are vulnerable to invasion by cheats. However, we show both theoretically, and experimentally with the bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens , that cheats may be unable to invade patches of cooperators under strong non‐social selection (both a novel abiotic environment and to a lesser extent, the presence of a virulent parasite). This is because beneficial mutations are most likely to arise in the numerically dominant cooperator population. Given the ubiquity of novel selection pressures on microbes, these results may help to explain why cooperation is the norm in natural populations of microbes.