Ecological interactions are evolutionarily conserved across the entire tree of life

José M. Gómez (), Miguel Verdú and Francisco Perfectti
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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

Nature, 2010, vol. 465, issue 7300, 918-921

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.

Date: 2010
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DOI: 10.1038/nature09113

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