Since the discovery of deep-sea hydrothermal vents in 1977, chemosynthesis-based ecosystems have been found in a wide range of habitats, such as hydrocarbon seeps, coastal sediments and terrestrial caves. Several invertebrates found in dark ecosystems harbor chemosynthetic bacteria (epibionts) on the ...
environmental variability4,5. Classic mutualism is found in the associations between ants and plants6in which ants are generally attracted by specific plant structures (e.g., food bodies, extrafloral nectaries, or shelter) and provide important indirect defence against herbivory, pathogens, or intrusi...
The origin of translation is critical for understanding the evolution of life, including the origins of life. The canonical genetic code is one of the most dominant aspects of life on this planet, while the origin of heredity is one of the key evolutionary transitions in living world. Why the...
They monitored the plant and insect for 19 years in a natural forest of Hokkaido, recording the timing of snowmelt, flowering and emergence of bumblebees as well as the seed-set rate. In this way, they were able to observe how the snowmelt timing andambient temperaturesaffect the local ph...
Increasing diversity can also increase the probability of a high-functioning species being present in the community (selection effects) or of multiple species serving the same ecological function, thus increasing the stability of that function (functional redundancy effects) [6]. Together, BEF theory ...