Summary: Ecology, 91(5), 2010, pp. 1286­1295
Ó 2010 by the Ecological Society of America
A consumer­resource approach to the density-dependent population
dynamics of mutualism
J. NATHANIEL HOLLAND
1,3
AND DONALD L. DEANGELIS
2
1
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Rice University, 6100 South Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005 USA
2
U.S. Geological Survey/Florida Integrated Science Center and Department of Biology, University of Miami,
Coral Gables, Florida 33124 USA
Abstract. Like predation and competition, mutualism is now recognized as a consumer­
resource (C­R) interaction, including, in particular, bi-directional (e.g., coral, plant­
mycorrhizae) and uni-directional (e.g., ant­plant defense, plant­pollinator) C­R mutualisms.
Here, we develop general theory for the density-dependent population dynamics of mutualism
based on the C­R mechanism of interspecific interaction. To test the influence of C­R
interactions on the dynamics and stability of bi- and uni-directional C­R mutualisms, we
developed simple models that link consumer functional response of one mutualistic species

Source: Azevedo, Ricardo - Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston
Holland, J. Nathaniel - Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Rice University

Collections: Biology and Medicine; Environmental Sciences and Ecology