{"id":{"repo_id":"exeter","oai_identifier":"oai:figshare.com:article/31828837"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/exeter/oai:figshare.com:article/31828837","repository":{"repo_id":"exeter","name":"University of Exeter","base_url":"https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai"},"display":{"title":"Biotic interactions through a macroecological lens: biogeographic trends in parasitism rates and life history effects on the evolution of cooperation","abstract":"Forming connections across trophic levels and environments, biotic interactions determine the flow of nutrients and energy in an ecosystem, their effects on fitness having the ability to shape species' ecology. Biotic interactions are also highly context-dependent, varying in strength in response to many abiotic and biotic factors. Research into biotic interactions can be streamlined by incorporating species-specific traits, such as life history and taxonomy, which produce broader patterns in context-dependency. Within this setting, I first focus on parasitic interactions, assessing their capacity to shape mammalian host species ranges. I find that higher parasitism rates at range margins suggests parasites may contribute to host range boundaries. In apparent contradiction of the latitudinal biotic interaction hypothesis, this pattern is strongest at higher latitudes, reflecting the importance of considering the specific ecology of a biotic interaction when evaluating broader biogeographic trends. Changing tack, I use an individual-based simulation to investigate the role of life history in the evolution of cooperative behaviours (i.e. any behaviour which confers a fitness benefit to another individual). The first of these investigations is into the evolution of costly altruism, defined here as a cooperative behaviour occurring within a species and incurring a cost to the actor. Existing models of altruism commonly use two mechanisms to represent a species life history, neither of which is particularly representative of natural life histories. I address this gap by incorporating both external effects on mortality, and intergenerational competition as drivers of population turnover. Overall, I find that altruism is most likely to evolve when it affects fecundity, not survival. Finally, I explore the role of lifespan and lifespan mismatch in the evolution of mutualism (a cooperative interaction where help is shared between species, often at a cost to the actor). In the simulation, mutualism is unable to evolve due to a high degree of stochasticity destabilising relationships between species and causing mutual exploitation to arise instead. Despite the absence of mutualism, results displayed clear differences between the effects of fecundity and survival, suggesting that such differences may be apparent across many interaction types. In my concluding remarks, I discuss life history more broadly in relation to biotic interactions, noting that measurements of the strength of biotic interactions often fail to account for differences in effects on fecundity or survival. Overall, I emphasize the role of cross-disciplinary research in addressing complex study systems, particularly noting the resulting increased ability to identify confounding factors associated with the context-dependence of biotic interactions.<p></p>","abstract_html":"Forming connections across trophic levels and environments, biotic interactions determine the flow of nutrients and energy in an ecosystem, their effects on fitness having the ability to shape species&#x27; ecology. Biotic interactions are also highly context-dependent, varying in strength in response to many abiotic and biotic factors. Research into biotic interactions can be streamlined by incorporating species-specific traits, such as life history and taxonomy, which produce broader patterns in context-dependency. Within this setting, I first focus on parasitic interactions, assessing their capacity to shape mammalian host species ranges. I find that higher parasitism rates at range margins suggests parasites may contribute to host range boundaries. In apparent contradiction of the latitudinal biotic interaction hypothesis, this pattern is strongest at higher latitudes, reflecting the importance of considering the specific ecology of a biotic interaction when evaluating broader biogeographic trends. Changing tack, I use an individual-based simulation to investigate the role of life history in the evolution of cooperative behaviours (i.e. any behaviour which confers a fitness benefit to another individual). The first of these investigations is into the evolution of costly altruism, defined here as a cooperative behaviour occurring within a species and incurring a cost to the actor. Existing models of altruism commonly use two mechanisms to represent a species life history, neither of which is particularly representative of natural life histories. I address this gap by incorporating both external effects on mortality, and intergenerational competition as drivers of population turnover. Overall, I find that altruism is most likely to evolve when it affects fecundity, not survival. Finally, I explore the role of lifespan and lifespan mismatch in the evolution of mutualism (a cooperative interaction where help is shared between species, often at a cost to the actor). In the simulation, mutualism is unable to evolve due to a high degree of stochasticity destabilising relationships between species and causing mutual exploitation to arise instead. Despite the absence of mutualism, results displayed clear differences between the effects of fecundity and survival, suggesting that such differences may be apparent across many interaction types. In my concluding remarks, I discuss life history more broadly in relation to biotic interactions, noting that measurements of the strength of biotic interactions often fail to account for differences in effects on fecundity or survival. Overall, I emphasize the role of cross-disciplinary research in addressing complex study systems, particularly noting the resulting increased ability to identify confounding factors associated with the context-dependence of biotic interactions.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Margaret Bolton (21039146)"],"institution":null,"degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2026,"date_issued":"2026-02-24T00:00:00Z","date_published":"2026-02-24T00:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:33:49Z","subjects":["parasitism","macroecology","altruism","mutualism","ecology","biotic interaction"],"languages":[],"rights":["All rights reserved","Open Access after 2027-02-23"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["10779/exe.31828837.v1"],"render_values":[{"text":"10779/exe.31828837.v1","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":null,"outbound_label":null,"outbound_source":null},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Margaret Bolton (21039146)"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2026-02-24T00:00:00Z"]},{"key":"dc:relation","label":"Dc Relation","values":["https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/Biotic_interactions_through_a_macroecological_lens_biogeographic_trends_in_parasitism_rates_and_life_history_effects_on_the_evolution_of_cooperation/31828837"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Text","Thesis"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["parasitism","macroecology","altruism","mutualism","ecology","biotic interaction"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["All rights reserved","Open Access after 2027-02-23"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["10779/exe.31828837.v1"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Forming connections across trophic levels and environments, biotic interactions determine the flow of nutrients and energy in an ecosystem, their effects on fitness having the ability to shape species' ecology. Biotic interactions are also highly context-dependent, varying in strength in response to many abiotic and biotic factors. Research into biotic interactions can be streamlined by incorporating species-specific traits, such as life history and taxonomy, which produce broader patterns in context-dependency. Within this setting, I first focus on parasitic interactions, assessing their capacity to shape mammalian host species ranges. I find that higher parasitism rates at range margins suggests parasites may contribute to host range boundaries. In apparent contradiction of the latitudinal biotic interaction hypothesis, this pattern is strongest at higher latitudes, reflecting the importance of considering the specific ecology of a biotic interaction when evaluating broader biogeographic trends. Changing tack, I use an individual-based simulation to investigate the role of life history in the evolution of cooperative behaviours (i.e. any behaviour which confers a fitness benefit to another individual). The first of these investigations is into the evolution of costly altruism, defined here as a cooperative behaviour occurring within a species and incurring a cost to the actor. Existing models of altruism commonly use two mechanisms to represent a species life history, neither of which is particularly representative of natural life histories. I address this gap by incorporating both external effects on mortality, and intergenerational competition as drivers of population turnover. Overall, I find that altruism is most likely to evolve when it affects fecundity, not survival. Finally, I explore the role of lifespan and lifespan mismatch in the evolution of mutualism (a cooperative interaction where help is shared between species, often at a cost to the actor). In the simulation, mutualism is unable to evolve due to a high degree of stochasticity destabilising relationships between species and causing mutual exploitation to arise instead. Despite the absence of mutualism, results displayed clear differences between the effects of fecundity and survival, suggesting that such differences may be apparent across many interaction types. In my concluding remarks, I discuss life history more broadly in relation to biotic interactions, noting that measurements of the strength of biotic interactions often fail to account for differences in effects on fecundity or survival. Overall, I emphasize the role of cross-disciplinary research in addressing complex study systems, particularly noting the resulting increased ability to identify confounding factors associated with the context-dependence of biotic interactions.<p></p>"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Biotic interactions through a macroecological lens: biogeographic trends in parasitism rates and life history effects on the evolution of cooperation"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Margaret Bolton (21039146)"],"dc:date":["2026-02-24T00:00:00Z"],"dc:description":["Forming connections across trophic levels and environments, biotic interactions determine the flow of nutrients and energy in an ecosystem, their effects on fitness having the ability to shape species' ecology. Biotic interactions are also highly context-dependent, varying in strength in response to many abiotic and biotic factors. Research into biotic interactions can be streamlined by incorporating species-specific traits, such as life history and taxonomy, which produce broader patterns in context-dependency. Within this setting, I first focus on parasitic interactions, assessing their capacity to shape mammalian host species ranges. I find that higher parasitism rates at range margins suggests parasites may contribute to host range boundaries. In apparent contradiction of the latitudinal biotic interaction hypothesis, this pattern is strongest at higher latitudes, reflecting the importance of considering the specific ecology of a biotic interaction when evaluating broader biogeographic trends. Changing tack, I use an individual-based simulation to investigate the role of life history in the evolution of cooperative behaviours (i.e. any behaviour which confers a fitness benefit to another individual). The first of these investigations is into the evolution of costly altruism, defined here as a cooperative behaviour occurring within a species and incurring a cost to the actor. Existing models of altruism commonly use two mechanisms to represent a species life history, neither of which is particularly representative of natural life histories. I address this gap by incorporating both external effects on mortality, and intergenerational competition as drivers of population turnover. Overall, I find that altruism is most likely to evolve when it affects fecundity, not survival. Finally, I explore the role of lifespan and lifespan mismatch in the evolution of mutualism (a cooperative interaction where help is shared between species, often at a cost to the actor). In the simulation, mutualism is unable to evolve due to a high degree of stochasticity destabilising relationships between species and causing mutual exploitation to arise instead. Despite the absence of mutualism, results displayed clear differences between the effects of fecundity and survival, suggesting that such differences may be apparent across many interaction types. In my concluding remarks, I discuss life history more broadly in relation to biotic interactions, noting that measurements of the strength of biotic interactions often fail to account for differences in effects on fecundity or survival. Overall, I emphasize the role of cross-disciplinary research in addressing complex study systems, particularly noting the resulting increased ability to identify confounding factors associated with the context-dependence of biotic interactions.<p></p>"],"dc:identifier":["10779/exe.31828837.v1"],"dc:relation":["https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/Biotic_interactions_through_a_macroecological_lens_biogeographic_trends_in_parasitism_rates_and_life_history_effects_on_the_evolution_of_cooperation/31828837"],"dc:rights":["All rights reserved","Open Access after 2027-02-23"],"dc:subject":["parasitism","macroecology","altruism","mutualism","ecology","biotic interaction"],"dc:title":["Biotic interactions through a macroecological lens: biogeographic trends in parasitism rates and life history effects on the evolution of cooperation"],"dc:type":["Text","Thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:33:49Z"}