Mutualismus est coniunctio symbiotica inter duos organismos, ubi uterque beneficium habilitatis lucratur, exempli gratia habilitatem superesse. Coniunctiones similes intra speciem appellantur cooperatio. Mutualismus cum certamine interspecifico discrepat, in quo uterque species habilitatem imminutam experitur, et cum exploitatione, in quo quaedam species beneficia incommodo aliae lucratur. Mutualismus et symbiosis aliquando tractantur si sint synonymi, sed hoc accurate est falsum: symbiosis est lata categoria, quae coniunctiones mutualistica, parasitica, vel commensales comprehendit. Mutualismus solum est quoddam harum coniunctionum genus.

Mutualismus partes graves in oecologia et biologia evolutionaria agit. Exempli gratia, coniunctiones mutualisticae sunt graves pro operatione oecosystematis terrestris, quoniam plus quam 70% plantarum terrestrium coniunctionibus mycorrhizosis cum fungis confidunt ut composita inorganica et elementa mineralia adipiscantur. Praeterea, mutualismus evolutionem multum biologicae mundi diversitatis pepulit, sicut formas florum (graves pro multis pollinationis mutualismis) et coevolutionem inter greges specierum (Thompson 2005). Nihilominus, mutualismus minus quam praedatio, parasitismus, et aliae coniunctiones interspecificae investigatus est (Begon et al. 1996; Bronstein 1994).

Nexus interni

• Coadaptatio
• Coevolutio
• Communicatio inter species
• Facilitatio oecologica
• Frugivoria
• Index coniunctionum symbioticarum
• Indicator indicator, avis qui homines ad apes ducit
• Imitatio Muelleriana
• Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution, liber a Petro Kropotkin scriptus
• Symbiogenesis
• Symbiosis

Bibliographia

• Begon, M., J. L. Harper, et C. R. Townsend. 1996. Ecology: individuals, populations, and communities. Editio tertia. Cantabrigiae: Blackwell Science Ltd.
• Boucher, D. G., S. James, et K. Kresler. 1984. "The ecology of mutualism." Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 13:315–347.
• Boucher, D. H., ed. 1985. The Biology of Mutualism: Ecology and Evolution Londinii: Croom Helm. ISBN 0-7099-3238-3.
• Breton, Lorraine M., et John F. Addicott. 1992. "Density-Dependent Mutualism in an Aphid-Ant Interaction." Ecology 73(6):2175–2180.
• Bronstein, J. L. 1994. "Our current understanding of mutualism." Quarterly Review of Biology 69(1):31–51.
• Bronstein, J. L. 2001a. "The costs of mutualism." American Zoologist 41(4):825–839.
• Bronstein, J. L. 2001b. "The exploitation of mutualisms." Ecology Letters 4(3):277–287.
• Bronstein, J. L., R. Alarcon, et M.Geber M. 2006. "The evolution of plant-insect mutualisms." New Phytologist 172(3):412–428.
• Denison R. F., et E. T. Kiers. 2004. "Why are most rhizobia beneficial to their plant hosts, rather than parasitic?" Microbes and Infection 6(13):1235–1239. ISSN 1286-4579.
• DeVries, P. J., et I. Baker. 1989. "Butterfly exploitation of an ant-plant mutualism: Adding insult of herbivory." Journal of the New York Entomological Society 97(3):332–340. ISSN 0028-7199.
• Hoeksema, J. D., et & E. M. Bruna. 2000. "Pursuing the big questions about interspecific mutualism: a review of theoretical approaches." Oecologia 125:321–330. ISSN 0029-8549.
• Jahn, Gary C., et J. W. Beardsley. 2000. "Interactions of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and mealybugs (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae) on pineapple." Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 34:181–185. ISSN 0073-134X.
• Jahn, Gary C., J. W. Beardsley, et H. González-Hernández. 2003. A review of the association of ants with mealybug wilt disease of pineapple. Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 36:9–28. ISSN 0073-134X.
• Noe, R., et P. Hammerstein. 1994. "Biological markets: supply and demand determine the effect of partner choice in cooperation, mutualism and mating." Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 35:1–11. ISSN 0340-5443.
• Ollerton, J. 2006. "Biological Barter": Patterns of Specialization Compared across Different Mutualisms." In Plant-Pollinator Interactions: From Specialization to Generalization, edd. N. M. Waser & J. Ollerton. 411–435. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-87400-5.
• Paszkowski, U. 2006. "Mutualism and parasitism: the yin and yang of plant symbioses." Current Opinion on Plant Biology 9(4):364–370. PMID 16713732.
• Porat, D., et N. E. Chadwick-Furman. 2004. "Effects of anemonefish on giant sea anemones:expansion behavior, growth, and survival." Hydrobiologia 530:513–520.
• Porat, D., et N. E. Chadwick-Furman. 2005. "Effects of anemonefish on giant sea anemones: ammonium uptake,zooxanthella content and tissue regeneration." Mar. Freshw. Behav. Phys. 38:43–51.
• Thompson, J. N. 2005. The Geographic Mosaic of Coevolution. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-79762-5.

Haec stipula ad biologiam spectat. Amplifica, si potes!