14. Cooperation and Mutualism Flashcards
What is cooperation?
A behaviour which provides a benefit for another individual and which has been selected for because of its beneficial effects on the other recipient
What is intraspecific cooperation among non-relatives?
Unrelated helpers in coop breeding Food sharing Alarm calls Coalitions Allogrooming
What are interspecific mutualisms?
Cleaning relationships
Protection-provisioning
Insect-plant mutualisms
What do pied kingfishers and paper wasps have in common?
Both are cooperative breeders who get help from unrelated helpers
Give 2 example of cooperative breeders with unrelated helpers (intraspecific)
Pied kingfisher - when food is scarce groups accept a secondary helper (which often replaces primary breeder in the next season - reciprocity?)
Paper wasps - 20-30% of helpers are non-related, may inherit nest later on?
What do pied kingfishers and paper wasps have in common?
Both are cooperative breeders who get help from unrelated helpers
Which animals show intraspecific food sharing among non-relatives?
Vampire bats - regurgitate blood meals or starve in 60hrs without blood
Chimpanzees - share food (especially meat)
Which species show intraspecific cooperation among non-relatives with regards to alarm calling?
Most that have alarm calls.
Which species for intraspecific coalitions and allogrooming among non-relatives?
Olive baboons - Males enlist the help of other males to gain access to oestrus females
Vervet monkeys - Individuals will respond to the calls of another if they were recently groomed by him
What are two examples of interspecific mutualistic cleaning relationships?
Cleaner fish - removes the parasites from the client, also cheat and feed on mucus and scales
Banded mongooses - Remove the ticks from warthogs, sometimes get squashed though.
What is one example of interspecific, mutualistic protection provisioning?
Ant-lycaenid butterfly larvae
- Larvae of butterfies secrete substances which attract ants - ants protect the larvae from parasites and predators
Give an example interspecific mutual provisioning
Honeyguide-human
Honeyguides guide humans to honey, humans destroy nest for honey and leave the leftovers for the birds. (eggs, larvae, beeswax)
Examples of insect-plant mutualisms?
Flowers and pollinators
Fig wasps and fig
Which kind of cooperation is easiest to explain?
Mutualism - both immediately benefit
How can coercion be used to work cooperatively?
Threats, Acts
What is reciprocity?
When the benefits are deferred due to an altruistic response later.
Both individuals benefit but the initial receiver would do better if they never repayed the favour.
Which two main factors promote cooperation - instead of both ‘cheating’?
Repeated interactions - increased cost of defection
Conditional behaviour - cooperation is conditional upon the other partners behaviour
What is tit-for-tat with regards to cooperative behaviour?
One individual is nice because the other is, as soon as one isn’t cooperative, the other stops too.
Is there any evidence that animals engage in tit-for-tat?
There was an experiment carried out on sticklebacks (Milinski 1987) but no control was used therefore very little evidence
In what ways is human cooperation unusual?
Cooperate in large groups
Cooperative with non-relatives
Cooperate in one-shot scenarios (eg restaurant tipping)
Possess inherent sense of ‘fairness’
