Abstract
Dispersal lays the template upon which other biological processes take place. Previous work has shown that two competing ant genera, both specialist symbionts of a tropical ant-plant, show spatial structuring consistent with a trade-off between propagule dispersal ability and adult fecundity, allowing coexistence when patch density varies. Poor dispersal is also thought to produce local resource competition and male-skewed sex ratios. We propose to isolate micro satellite markers from two ant species, which will be used to measure relatedness within colonies, amongst ant foundresses competing for the same saplings, and to match foundresses with natal colonies. This will allow the direct reconstruction of dispersal kernels and the quantification of the level of loc al resource competition. The results of this work will connect dispersal biology with the study of population genetics, spatial ecology, sex ratio evolution, and the maintenance of cooperation in mutualisms, making important and basic contributions to three outstanding challenges in evolutionary ecology. The first challenge is to relate population genetic measures to patterns of propagule dispersal, as opposed to gene flow generally. The second challenge is to test empirically the theoretically well-supported notion that species can coexist via spatial niche partitioning. And the third challenge is to explain the mechanisms that allow species coexistence and mutualism to remain evolutionarily stable. This proposal is supported by one of the most advanced British universities in evolutionary ecology, with the aim to create a durable research collaboration between England and France. This network will provide the foundation of a wider grouping in a near future, involving other member states of the Community, e.g. Germany and Austria.
Europe