Nothing better to do? Environment quality and the evolution of cooperation by partner choice

The effects of partner choice have been documented in a large number of biological systems such as sexual markets, interspecific mutualisms, or human cooperation. There are, however, a number of situations in which one would expect this mechanism to play a role, but where no such effect has ever bee...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: André, J.-B (Author), Bredeche, N. (Author), Ecoffet, P. (Author)
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Academic Press 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:View Fulltext in Publisher
LEADER 02778nam a2200469Ia 4500
001 10.1016-j.jtbi.2021.110805
008 220427s2021 CNT 000 0 und d
020 |a 00225193 (ISSN) 
245 1 0 |a Nothing better to do? Environment quality and the evolution of cooperation by partner choice 
260 0 |b Academic Press  |c 2021 
856 |z View Fulltext in Publisher  |u https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2021.110805 
520 3 |a The effects of partner choice have been documented in a large number of biological systems such as sexual markets, interspecific mutualisms, or human cooperation. There are, however, a number of situations in which one would expect this mechanism to play a role, but where no such effect has ever been demonstrated. This is the case in particular in many intraspecific interactions, such as collective hunts, in non–human animals. Here we use individual-based simulations to solve this apparent paradox. We show that the conditions for partner choice to operate are in fact restrictive. They entail that individuals can compare social opportunities and choose the best. The challenge is that social opportunities are often rare because they necessitate the co-occurrence of (i) at least one available partner, and (ii) a resource to exploit together with this partner. This has three consequences. First, partner choice cannot lead to the evolution of cooperation when resources are scarce, which explains that this mechanism could never be observed in many cases of intraspecific cooperation in animals. Second, partner choice can operate when partners constitute in themselves a resource, which is the case in sexual interactions and interspecific mutualisms. Third, partner choice can lead to the evolution of cooperation when individuals live in a rich environment, and/or when they are highly efficient at extracting resources from their environment. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd 
650 0 4 |a adult 
650 0 4 |a Agent-based model 
650 0 4 |a animal 
650 0 4 |a Animals 
650 0 4 |a article 
650 0 4 |a Biological Evolution 
650 0 4 |a Biological market 
650 0 4 |a cooperation 
650 0 4 |a Cooperation 
650 0 4 |a cooperative behavior 
650 0 4 |a Cooperative Behavior 
650 0 4 |a environmental quality 
650 0 4 |a evolution 
650 0 4 |a evolution 
650 0 4 |a Evolution 
650 0 4 |a human 
650 0 4 |a Humans 
650 0 4 |a intraspecific interaction 
650 0 4 |a marriage 
650 0 4 |a Marriage 
650 0 4 |a mate choice 
650 0 4 |a model 
650 0 4 |a Partner choice 
650 0 4 |a simulation 
650 0 4 |a symbiosis 
650 0 4 |a Symbiosis 
700 1 |a André, J.-B.  |e author 
700 1 |a Bredeche, N.  |e author 
700 1 |a Ecoffet, P.  |e author 
773 |t Journal of Theoretical Biology