Abstract

TORRES, ENRIQUE. One Hundred and Fifty Years of Coevolutionary Thinking: Life is a Web of Interactions. Acta biol.Colomb. [online]. 2009, vol.14, suppl.1, pp.231-246. ISSN 0120-548X.

Multicellular organisms require one or more coevolved ecological interactions to survive and reproduce. Coevolution, the set of reciprocal evolutionary changes between these interacting species, is a continuous process that organizes Darwinian diversity in complex biological webs. This dynamic vision tempers the conflict between Humboldt's harmonious Nature and the warring Nature held by Darwin and other 19th century naturalists. The conceptual foundations of coevolutionary biology include the germ theory of disease, the ubiquity of symbioses, their frequent feature as specialized interactions, and the Mendelian determination of their outcomes. Those coevolutionary changes, driven ultimately by natural selection, affect hereditary traits involved in the interactions. Since species consist of genetically diverse populations with geographic structure, coevolution between two or more given species may cause qualitative or quantitative differential trait changes according to location, giving rise to geographic mosaics. Coevolutionary biology aims at building a conceptual outlook that blends Darwinian natural selection with ecology. This new perspective allows a view of a complex web of life, which will enhance our appreciation of the importance of preserving interactions as a way to preserve species. This article examines coevolution from its Darwinian roots, through the identification of key theoretical elements essential for its formulation, and concludes with its current interpretation.

Keywords : gene-for-gene; escape and radiation; geographic mosaic of coevolution.

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