Coevolution

July 10, 2017

This Science Café looks at the complex trajectory of evolution when species interact. The books and resources below are just a small sample of what's available through Cleveland Public Library to provide a wider perspective on the topic. Click the titles to link to the library's catalog to place a hold or to get additional information.

Non-fiction

Monarchs and Milkweed: A Migrating Butterfly, A Poisonous Plant, and Their Remarkable Story of Coevolution by Anurag Agrawal (2017)
- In Monarchs and Milkweed , Anurag Agrawal presents a vivid investigation into how the monarch butterfly has evolved closely alongside the milkweed--a toxic plant named for the sticky white substance emitted when its leaves are damaged--and how this inextricable and intimate relationship has been like an arms race over the millennia, a battle of exploitation and defense between two fascinating species.
Your Baby's Microbiome: The Critical Role of Vaginal Birth and Breastfeeding for Lifelong Health by Toni Harman (2017)
- At least two amazing events happen during childbirth. There's the obvious main event, which is the emergence of a new human into the world. But there's another event taking place simultaneously, a crucial event that is not visible to the naked eye, an event that could determine the lifelong health of the baby. This is the seeding of the baby's microbiome, the community of "good" bacteria that we carry with us throughout our lives. The seeding of the microbiome, along with breastfeeding and skin-to-skin contact, kick-starts the baby's immune system and helps protect the infant from disease across a lifetime. Researchers are discovering, however, that interventions such as the use of synthetic oxytocin, antibiotics, C-sections, and formula feeding interfere with, or bypass completely, the microbial transfer from mother to baby. These bacteria are vital for human health, and science has linked an imbalance in the human microbiome with multiple chronic diseases. From the Directors of the Award-Winning Documentary Microbirth.
Chasing the Red Queen: The Coevolution of Pests and Poisons by Andy Dyer (2014)
- In the race to feed the world's seven billion people, we are at a standstill. Over the past century, we have developed increasingly potent and sophisticated pesticides, yet in 2014, the average percentage of U.S. crops lost to agricultural pests was no less than in 1944. To use a metaphor the field of evolutionary biology borrowed from Alice in Wonderland , farmers must run ever faster to stay in the same place--i.e., produce the same yields. With Chasing the Red Queen , Andy Dyer offers the first book to apply the Red Queen Hypothesis to agriculture. He illustrates that when selection pressure increases, species evolve in response, creating a never-ending, perpetually-escalating competition between predator (us) and prey (bugs and weeds). The result is farmers are caught in a vicious cycle of chemical dependence, stuck using increasingly dangerous and expensive toxics to beat back progressively resistant pests.
The Infectious Microbe by William Firshein (2014)
- From diseases caused by bacteria, like pneumonia, tuberculosis, anthrax, meningitis, typhoid, and bubonic plague, to diseases caused by viruses, like HIV, polio, yellow fever, hepatitis, and influenza, humanity has struggled to cope with the rapidly changing capabilities of microorganisms. The book begins by introducing the microbe, its history, and its basic science. Then, in an engaging narrative, Firshein describes seven critical microbial and viral diseases that plague our world, showing how each one illustrates the basic characteristics of infection. Each of these seven diseases follows the same path: invasion, internal spread, toxin effects, excretion, and transmission to a new host. In this lively discussion of pathogenicity, William Firshein reveals the fascinating scientific relationship between human and microbe, and shows us how humanity can live with microorganisms.
Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics is Fueling our Modern Plagues by Martin Blaser (2014)
- "Humans are losing "ancient microbes" from the overuse of antibiotics and medical practices like Caesarian sections, warns Blaser, director of New York University's microbiome program and a researcher whose study of one pesky pathogen, H. pylori, helped lead both to the discovery of its link to ulcers, and to the troubling changes triggered by early-life exposure to antibiotics." - Publishers Weekly review excerpt
The Botany of Desire: A Plant's Eye View of the World by Michael Pollan (2002)
- In The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan ingeniously demonstrates how people and domesticated plants have formed a similarly reciprocal relationship. He masterfully links four fundamental human desires--sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control--with the plants that satisfy them: the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato. In telling the stories of four familiar species, Pollan illustrates how the plants have evolved to satisfy humankind's most basic yearnings. And just as we've benefited from these plants, we have also done well by them. So who is really domesticating whom?
The Geographic Mosaic of Coevolution by John Thompson (2005)
- The Geographic Mosaic of Coevolution analyzes how the biology of species provides the raw material for long-term coevolution, evaluates how local coadaptation forms the basic module of coevolutionary change, and explores how the coevolutionary process reshapes locally coevolving interactions across the earth's constantly changing landscapes.
Yellow Fever, Black Goddess: The Coevolution of People and Plagues by Christopher Wills (1996)
- By focusing on microorganisms that cause human suffering, Wills examines the evolution of diseases, viruses, and plagues from their "point of view," producing a fascinating glimpse into the complex lives of microbes and how they manifest with often disastrous results. He explains that when we alter nature in such ways as burning forests and disrupting the food chain, human beings unwittingly unleash diseases by destroying their host resources.
The Coevolutionary Process by John Thompson (1994)
- Using examples of species interactions from an enormous range of taxa, Thompson examines how and when extreme specialization evolves in interdependent species and how geographic differences in specialization, adaptation, and the outcomes of interactions shape coevolution. Through the geographic mosaic theory, Thompson bridges the gap between the study of specialization and coevolution in local communities and the study of broader patterns seen in comparisons of the phylogenies of interacting species.

Additional Resources

H. pylori and peptic ulcers from the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NIH Publication no. 10-4225)
Coevolution: A Lecture by Prof. Stephen C. Stearns, Yale University (2009 - Online video)
- Coevolution happens at many levels, not just the level of species. Organelles such as mitochondria and chloroplasts serve as good intracellular examples. Other living things make up a crucial component of an organism's environment. Coevolution can occur in helpful ways (symbiosis) and in harmful ways (parasitism). Many factors can influence coevolution, such the frequency and degree of interaction.

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