PhilSci Archive

Cooperative Equilibrium in Biosphere Evolution: Reconciling Competition and Cooperation in Evolutionary Ecology

Herring, John (2021) Cooperative Equilibrium in Biosphere Evolution: Reconciling Competition and Cooperation in Evolutionary Ecology. [Preprint]

[img]
Preview
Text
Cooperative Equilibrium in Biosphere Evolution.pdf

Download (294kB) | Preview

Abstract

As our understanding of biological evolution continues to deepen, tension still surrounds the relationship between competition and cooperation in the evolution of the biosphere, with rival viewpoints often associated with the Red Queen and Black Queen hypotheses respectively. This essay seeks to reconcile these viewpoints by integrating observations of some general trends in biosphere evolution with concepts from game theory. It is here argued that biodiversity and ecological cooperation are intimately related, and that both tend to cyclically increase over biological history; this is likely due to the greater relative stability of cooperation over competition as a means of long-term conflict resolution within ecosystems. By integrating this view of the biosphere with existing models such as Niche Game Theory, it may be argued that competition and cooperation in ecosystems coexist at equilibria which shift preferentially towards increasing cooperation over biological history. This potentially points to a state of “cooperative equilibrium” as a limit or endpoint in long-term biosphere evolution, such that Black Queen and Red Queen behavior dominate different phases in an evolutionary movement towards optimal cooperative stability in ecological networks. This concept, if accepted, may also bear implications for developing future mathematical models in evolutionary biology, as well as for resolving the perennial debate regarding the relative roles of conflict and harmony in nature.


Export/Citation: EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL
Social Networking:
Share |

Item Type: Preprint
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Herring, Johnherring3@purdue.edu0000-0002-5016-7947
Keywords: cooperation, competition, evolution, symbiosis, biodiversity, equilibrium
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Biology
Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory
Specific Sciences > Complex Systems
General Issues > Game Theory
General Issues > Values In Science
Depositing User: Mr John Herring
Date Deposited: 07 Feb 2021 14:36
Last Modified: 22 Feb 2021 23:36
Item ID: 18690
Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10441-021-09409-z
DOI or Unique Handle: This is a preprint of an article published in Acta Biotheoretica. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10441-021-09409-z
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Biology
Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory
Specific Sciences > Complex Systems
General Issues > Game Theory
General Issues > Values In Science
Date: 6 February 2021
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/18690

Monthly Views for the past 3 years

Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years

Plum Analytics

Altmetric.com

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item