Cooperation, Evolution of

Abstract

Cooperation, mutually beneficial activities involving members of the same, or of different, species, allows evolution of versatile individuals and complex, competitive ecosystems. Social cooperation involves members of the same, mutualism of different, species. Elaborate social cooperation involves division of labor; mutualism often involves the exchange of goods for services, as when corals offer algal symbionts fertilizer and safe homes in return for carbohydrates. Such cooperators risk being cheated by individuals that accept benefits from partners without reciprocating. The central problem in understanding how cooperation evolves is how cheating is controlled. Cooperators have found many ways to restrict cheating.