Mutualism

Root herbivores and plant mutualists, such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), have a significant effect on the structure and dynamic of plant communities. Nevertheless, the interactions between the two groups of organisms in natural ecosystems are far from understood. We carried out an inoculation experiment to examine the effect of two root herbivores, Pratylenchus penetrans and P. dunensis (Nematoda), on the composition of the AMF communities associated with two populations of the dune grass Ammophila arenaria. The outcome of the interaction in terms of plant and nematode performance was also analyzed. The total percentage of AMF colonization was not affected by the presence of root-feeders, but they did alter the composition of the AMF communities inside the roots. These changes were dependent on the root-feeder species and the original AMF community: the most severe alterations were observed in the mycorrhizal plants from Wales attacked by P. penetrans. Plant growth was impaired in plants from Wales inoculated with AMF and P. dunensis, which suggests a highly species-specific synergistic interaction with negative consequences for the plant. Root infection by the nematodes was reduced in all mycorrhizal plants when compared to non-mycorrhizal plants. However, a significant reduction of the final number of nematodes was observed only in the mycorrhizal plants from one population.

Mutualisms are of fundamental importance in all ecosystems but their very existence poses a series of challenging evolutionary questions. Recently, the application of molecular analyses combined with theoretical advances have transformed our understanding of many specific systems, thereby contributing to the possibility of a more general understanding of the factors that influence mutualisms.

The tidal migration, temporal and spatial patterns in feeding of the surface-swimming four-eyed fish Anableps anableps (Anablepidae) were studied in a macrotidal mangrove area in north Brazil to exemplify the ecology of a tropical intertidal fish. Visual censuses in the main channel showed that abundances were high at low water (LW) and low at high water (HW). Anableps anableps entered the intertidal creeks with the first flood rise. They fed in the inundated mangrove at HW and returned gradually after the ebb current maximum to concentrate again in the subtidal parts of the main channel at LW. This pattern occurred at neap, mid and spring tides throughout the year. The tidal migration was triggered by water level, not by time. In the study area the diet of A. anableps caught with block nets was dominated by intertidal red algae (Catanella sp.). Other important food items were Insecta and Grapsidae. The combination of high inundation and daylight (spring tide-day) provided the best foraging conditions, probably emphasizing the importance of the above-water eye. Darkness and low inundation was linked to poorest foraging conditions (neap tide-night). The quantity of food consumed by A. anableps was clearly influenced by the factors tide, time of day and creek location, but not by size and sex. The qualitative composition of the diet was not influenced by any of the factors, except for mud, which was only ingested at neap tides. The temporal and spatial variability in food consumption suggests that food web modelling in macrotidal areas may lead to misinterpretations of the overall systems dynamics if the spring and neap tide alternation and the diurnal cycle are not considered.

Flowers are complex structures, synchronously displaying both olfactory and visual signals/cues in the context of a particular floral morphology, that also vary in resource quantity and quality. Despite or possibly because of this complexity, many studies focus on a single or few traits rather than studying floral phenotypes in a more integrated fashion. However, each of these distinct trait classes (signals/cues, morphology and resources) mediates interactions with floral visitors, demanding a more holistic view of flowers. In our review, we integrate floral scents into the broader context of the whole-flower phenotype. We discuss the functions of scent bouquets, colouration, morphology and rewards in flower-visitor interactions from an ecological and evolutionary perspective in isolation and taken together. Studies demonstrate that floral scent bouquets can act additively or synergistically with other modalities, and that their effects on flower visitors are context-dependent. We also present field study results showing that reward levels modulate dose-dependent responses to volatiles by honeybees. To motivate studies examining complex floral phenotypes, we outline statistical approaches suited to deal with the complex multivariate datasets generated by these studies. We conclude with a discussion on why flowers display multimodal traits and suggest future research efforts. Our aim is to foster a fresh view on integrated floral phenotypes and stimulate studies exploring the combined effects of olfactory, visual, morphological and nutritional traits on flower-animal interactions.

1Fungal leaf endophytes and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are common constituents of natural grasslands. The simultaneous presence of these two grass plant symbionts is highly probable.2We describe the results of a glasshouse experiment investigating the outcome of dual infection of a cool-season grass species, Lolium multiflorum, by the fungal endophyte Neotyphodium occultans and three species of Glomus AM fungi.3Mycorrhizal colonization was investigated on monocultures of plants with or without leaf endophytes, and on mixtures of endophyte-infected and uninfected plants. In both scenarios, endophyte-infected plants had lower levels of mycorrhizal colonization, but in the endophyte mixtures the presence of endophyte-infected plants caused an increase in AM colonization in non-endophyte-infected conspecific neighbours.4Host-plant biomass, nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) accumulation, and competitive ability were increased by the presence of endophytes. AM fungi did not improve host performance or nutrient content (concentration or accumulation) in the presence or absence of the endophyte.5Interactions between host plants and AM fungi are mediated by fungal endophyte infection. The implications of such modified interactions for ecosystem dynamics and functioning are considered.Fungal leaf endophytes and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are common constituents of natural grasslands. The simultaneous presence of these two grass plant symbionts is highly probable.We describe the results of a glasshouse experiment investigating the outcome of dual infection of a cool-season grass species, Lolium multiflorum, by the fungal endophyte Neotyphodium occultans and three species of Glomus AM fungi.Mycorrhizal colonization was investigated on monocultures of plants with or without leaf endophytes, and on mixtures of endophyte-infected and uninfected plants. In both scenarios, endophyte-infected plants had lower levels of mycorrhizal colonization, but in the endophyte mixtures the presence of endophyte-infected plants caused an increase in AM colonization in non-endophyte-infected conspecific neighbours.Host-plant biomass, nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) accumulation, and competitive ability were increased by the presence of endophytes. AM fungi did not improve host performance or nutrient content (concentration or accumulation) in the presence or absence of the endophyte.Interactions between host plants and AM fungi are mediated by fungal endophyte infection. The implications of such modified interactions for ecosystem dynamics and functioning are considered.

Alors que l'économie collaborative gagne de plus en plus de terrain, le concept même d’économie collaborative reste très flou. Dans ce papier on caractérisera avec précision l’économie collaborative pour montrer les liens étroits qu’elle garde avec le mutualisme. Pour cela, on se servira d’un autre concept proche qui est celui de « commun » et on tracera les frontières entre les trois. Finalement, en partant de l’histoire du mutualisme en France et en s’appuyant sur des entretiens réalisés auprès de différents acteurs de ces trois domaines, on montrera en quoi certaines collaborations entre l’économie collaborative et le mutualisme qui relèvent de la logique des communs pourraient devenir une voie de renouveau du projet mutualiste et des communs.

Ce travail est un mémoire de master réalisé dans le cadre d'un stage à la MAIF sous la direction de Benjamin Coriat (CEPN - Université Paris XIII), Thomas Ollivier (Stratégie et partenariats - MAIF), Nicole Alix (Rencontres du Mont-Blanc, Confrontations Europe) et Frédéric Sultan (Remix The Commons, Vecam)

Although there is broad consensus that the majority of the early Christ-followers were poor, descriptions of the economic practices of their assemblies have focused on the contributions of a surplus-possessing minority. This article employs ethnographic accounts of the economic activities of the poor to challenge the assumption that Paul’s injunctions to generosity were targeted primarily at wealthier members. Since there is ample evidence from numerous societies of sharing among the poor, one cannot deduce from the fact that Paul commends generosity that he is addressing those with surplus resources. Moreover, the moral rhetoric employed by Paul addresses just such concerns as commonly arise when the poor participate in networks of reciprocal exchange. What Paul envisions and seeks to nurture are local networks of Christ-followers who utilize their mostly subsistence-level resources for their mutual benefit.

Fig trees are pollinated by fig wasps, which also oviposit in female flowers. The wasp larvae gall and eat developing seeds. Although fig trees benefit from allowing wasps to oviposit, because the wasp offspring disperse pollen, figs must prevent wasps from ovipositing in all flowers, or seed production would cease, and the mutualism would go extinct. In Ficus racemosa, we find that syconia (‘figs’) that have few foundresses (ovipositing wasps) are underexploited in the summer (few seeds, few galls, many empty ovules) and are overexploited in the winter (few seeds, many galls, few empty ovules). Conversely, syconia with many foundresses produce intermediate numbers of galls and seeds, regardless of season. We use experiments to explain these patterns, and thus, to explain how this mutualism is maintained. In the hot summer, wasps suffer short lifespans and therefore fail to oviposit in many flowers. In contrast, cooler temperatures in the winter permit longer wasp lifespans, which in turn allows most flowers to be exploited by the wasps. However, even in winter, only in syconia that happen to have few foundresses are most flowers turned into galls. In syconia with higher numbers of foundresses, interference competition reduces foundress lifespans, which reduces the proportion of flowers that are galled. We further show that syconia encourage the entry of multiple foundresses by delaying ostiole closure. Taken together, these factors allow fig trees to reduce galling in the wasp-benign winter and boost galling (and pollination) in the wasp- stressing summer. Interference competition has been shown to reduce virulence in pathogenic bacteria. Our results show that interference also maintains cooperation in a classic, cooperative symbiosis, thus linking theories of virulence and mutualism. More generally, our results reveal how frequency-dependent population regulation can occur in the fig-wasp mutualism, and how a host species can ‘set the rules of the game’ to ensure mutualistic behavior in its symbionts.

Nectar robbers are birds, insects, or other flower visitors that remove nectar from flowers through a hole pierced or bitten in the corolla. This paper is a review of the effects of nectar robbers on pollinators, pollination, and fitness of the plants they rob. Charles Darwin assumed that nectar robbers had a negative impact on the plants that they visit, but research done in the last 50 years indicates that they often have a beneficial or neutral effect. Several studies document that robbers frequently pollinate the plants that they visit. Robbers may ...

Highlighting the ecological concerns as projected in Disney Pictures is the prime objective of the paper. The two major ground breaking theoretical concepts Deep ecology and Ecofeminism though are against the institutionalized hierarchies, are found to dilute each other. The Frozen series of Disney Pictures has deviated from the clichéd portrayal of its princess's and has placed an open gate before the pro-feminist princess. Deep Ecology and Ecofeminism together create a deep impact on the role played by women in restoring nature to its pristine form from being exploited by the materialist society. Archetypal criticism clears the mist enabling women to know the reason behind their instinctual tendency to nurture nature. Both the concepts complement each other and create a divine approach towards nature. Frozen series has created a deep impact on every individual of the society irrespective of their age and gender. The paper supports the theory of coexistence propounded by the Frozen series with theoretical evidences pooled together from different episteme of knowledge like Psychology, Feminism and Ecology. The environmental ethics displayed by mass media to the younger generations has been a phenomenal victory. The Western civilization has steered the wheel of development towards ecological balance and has proved the fact that natural resources once exploited will bring doom's day to the doorsteps of all the creations existing on this earth. The ecological concepts dealt with in the movies have struck the chord-by explicating complicated ecological theories along with solutions for the ecological crisis through a feminist lens.

It is hard to explain how human morality has evolved. Explanations regarding evolutionary self-interest seem to explain away the phenomenon, rather than illuminating it. But without showing how behaving morally helped our ancestors to have more or better offspring, a strictly evolutionary explanation will not succeed. Typically, those that try to illuminate the evolutionary origins of morality focus on either reciprocal altruism (roughly, I lose now, but I'll gain later) or inclusive fitness (roughly, I seem to lose but some of my kin gains, so I gain), but both approaches face difficult problems. Michael Tomasello, Co-director of the Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, takes a different route. In his exciting new book, he puts forward a strong case for mutualism, the thesis that moral behaviour evolved as the result of mutually beneficial interactions amongst humans. Tomasello's core thesis is that mutualistic cooperation, in which all involved parties benefit, provided the ground for the evolution of proximate psychological mechanisms that eventually formed the building blocks of human morality. He identifies two ecological changes that made humans interdependent and explains how these conditions gave rise to the evolution of, first, joint and later collective intentionality. Tomasello's account is superbly researched and convincingly argued. Its foremost contribution is to broaden the conception of reciprocity through insight from psychological research that yields an account of how the socio-ecological circumstances of early humans made could have made cooperation worthwhile in an evolutionary sense.

Miriam Halpern Pereira ( CEHCP/ISCTE ) Neste final de século, o Estado-Providência tem sido questionado em quase todos os países europeus. Com ritmo variável, principiou-se a reforma do sistema de segurança social, processo que tem sido acompanhado da privatização dos serviços cobertos, em maior ou menor grau. A movimentação contra as restrições da política social nos últimos anos poderia sugerir que este tipo de direitos sociais nasceu como um componente importante do movimento operário nos diferentes países europeus ou pelo menos naqueles onde o Welfare State começou a ser construído primeiro.

A comprehensive and critical review of all available literature on associations between Australian lycaenid butterflies and ants was undertaken to establish an accurate database of the partners involved. Collections and observations of lycaenids and ants were used to augment this review, resulting in a significant number of newly documented association (and non-association) records. Twenty published records considered to be erroneous or doubtful are noted, with justifications given for their deletion from the association database. In total, 265 different associations between lycaenids and ants, plus 65 non-attendance records are documented for Australia. Nearly 80% of the lycaenid species in Australia, for which the early stages are known, are recorded associating with ants and half of these are obligately ant-associated. Patterns of association are examined from the perspective of both lycaenids and ants, with a focus on ant systematics and ecology. Lycaenids are recorded with five ant subfamilies, including the first record of an association with the Pseudomyrmecinae. The Dolichoderinae, and to some extent the Formicinae, have a disproportionately high percentage of genera that associate with lycaenid butterflies. All ant species that tend lycaenids spend at least some portion of their time foraging on vegetation to collect plant and insect nectar. There is a robust relationship between the competitive status of ants within a community, and their frequency and degree of association with lycaenids. Obligate ant-association is accompanied by a high degree of specificity for ant partner, but two notable exceptions, Ogyris aenone and O. amaryllis are discussed. Facultative myrmecophiles tend to associate with a broad range of ants, although interactions with ecologically dominant ants are less frequent than might be expected based on the abundance of dominant ant species in Australian communities.

All plants in natural ecosystems appear to be symbiotic with fungal endophytes. This highly diverse group of fungi can have profound impacts on plant communities through increasing fitness by conferring abiotic and biotic stress tolerance, increasing biomass and decreasing water consumption, or decreasing fitness by altering resource allocation. Despite more than 100 yr of research resulting in thousands of journal articles, the ecological significance of these fungi remains poorly characterized. Historically, two endophytic groups (clavicipitaceous (C) and nonclavicipitaceous (NC)) have been discriminated based on phylogeny and life history traits. Here, we show that NC-endophytes represent three distinct functional groups based on host colonization and transmission, in planta biodiversity and fitness benefits conferred to hosts. Using this framework, we contrast the life histories, interactions with hosts and potential roles in plant ecophysiology of C-and NC-endophytes, and highlight several key questions for future work in endophyte biology. Tansley review www.newphytologist.org No claim to original US government works Journal compilation © New Phytologist (2009)

Attraverso un ampio lavoro di ricognizione e mappatura delle realtà associative di stampo mutualistico operanti in Sicilia tra l’Unità e i primi del Novecento, il volume offre una panoramica sulla natura, l’attività e il ruolo esercitati da questi sodalizi nel contesto isolano.
Nonostante un generale ritardo nella diffusione delle Società di Mutuo Soccorso rispetto ad altre regioni del Nord e del Centro del Paese, la crescita di questa forma di associazionismo popolare in Sicilia fu costante nel corso degli ultimi decenni dell’Ottocento, fondandosi
su una tradizione risorgimentale sempre viva, nelle versioni sia democratica che liberale, su cui si andarono ad innestare successivamente la componente socialista e quella cattolica. Partendo dal quadro di riferimento nazionale, l’indagine si è focalizzata sul caso regionale secondo un’articolazione per provincia o incentrata
su quelle realtà territoriali specificamente connotate nell’area siciliana. Dalle forme di assistenza erogata alle pratiche e rituali socializzanti (feste, banchetti, uso di simboli e bandiere) agli aspetti organizzativi, normativi e finanziari, l’esame del fenomeno mutualistico si rivela un’utile chiave di lettura per valutare dinamiche politiche
e socio-economiche più complessive legate allo sviluppo del movimento dei lavoratori in Sicilia in età liberale.

Most mycorrhizas are ' balanced ' mutualistic associations in which the fungus and plant exchange commodities required for their growth and survival. Myco-heterotrophic plants have 'exploitative ' mycorrhizas where transfer processes apparently benefit only plants. Exploitative associations are symbiotic (in the broad sense), but are not mutualistic. A new definition of mycorrhizas that encompasses all types of these associations while excluding other plant-fungus interactions is provided. This definition recognises the importance of nutrient transfer at an interface resulting from synchronised plant-fungus development. The diversity of interactions between mycorrhizal fungi and plants is considered. Mycorrhizal fungi also function as endophytes, necrotrophs and antagonists of host or non-host plants, with roles that vary during the lifespan of their associations. It is recommended that mycorrhizal associations are defined and classified primarily by anatomical criteria regulated by the host plant. A revised classification scheme for types and categories of mycorrhizal associations defined by these criteria is proposed. The main categories of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal associations (VAM) are 'linear' or 'coiling ', and of ectomycorrhizal associations (ECM) are ' epidermal ' or 'cortical '. Subcategories of coiling VAM and epidermal ECM occur in certain host plants. Fungus-controlled features result in ' morphotypes ' within categories of VAM and ECM. Arbutoid and monotropoid associations should be considered subcategories of epidermal ECM and ectendomycorrhizas should be relegated to an ECM morphotype. Both arbuscules and vesicles define mycorrhizas formed by glomeromycotan fungi. A new classification scheme for categories, subcategories and morphotypes of mycorrhizal associations is provided.

Within the anarchist tradition, mutualism has a long, complex and contentious history. That history has been written by divers hands, with opponents often contributing as significantly as proponents. As a result, we face a range of interpretive choices, no one of which provides a complete picture. Approached as a single tendency, mutualism seems to defy definition. When we identify the common threads that unite the tradition, we find they are often not the elements that have defined the various mutualisms individually. Between each stage in the history we find nearly as much discontinuity as continuity.

The authors of this edition propose a novel and inspiring research approach to the subject of plants, which – being a form of life that is different, yet akin to us – is a constant source of nourishment and metaphors, decoration and obsessions. The articles included in this thematic block on plants enter into lively ongoing debates on genetics, feminism, ecology and plant ontology. They are excellent examples of the fact that in Polish philosophical and cultural reflection there was an understanding very early on of the challenges that posthumanism poses to our anthropocentric intellectual habits. Foreign readers will recognize in these Polish reflections a bold willingness to ask ethical and aesthetic questions of great relevance to the modern world that go far beyond the safe, though most likely imagined, limits of what it is to be human.

In local Philippine society, the affinity to “place” is a common trope that has yet to be fully explored. With ecocritical lenses, the discussion of “place” in the Philippines begs this query: what is it? Exploring the framework of “place mutualism” in Philippine ecopoetry, this essay differentiates dualism from mutualism to analyse ecopoetry through the interdependent discussion of north and south places. In doing so, the ecological stand of the ecopoems is determined in order to aid in the discourse on “place mutualism.” Most importantly, this essay opens the space for an ecocritical concept of “place” in Philippine literature, and provides reasons on why this is a topic that must continually be examined and reexamined in the third world environment.

Este libro cuenta una historia de la música en Chile desde la pers¬pectiva del trabajo, la cual no ha sido suficientemente explorada hasta ahora. En vez de priorizar por la obra de arte, como se ha hecho tradicionalmente, la autora pone al centro el trabajo de los músicos y sus organizaciones gremiales. El relato lo construye a partir de diversas fuentes, muchas de ellas inéditas y escritas por los músicos que trabajaron entre 1893 y 1940 en Valparaíso. Así, se centra en esta ciudad portuaria para luego ampliar el foco al contexto nacional, entendiendo a Valparaíso como el espacio propicio para la circulación nacional y transnacional de las ideas, repertorios y músicos. Orfeones, bandas de jazz, directores de ópera, de orquestas de teatros, pianistas de cine, compositores de piezas de vanguardia, de canciones y foxtrots protagonizan esta historia, que se entrecruza con la del movimiento obrero, de las industrias del entretenimiento, dialoga con la historia de las mujeres y la formación de instituciones musicales en el país.

This research focuses on the concept of « linking value », applied to mutualist insurance companies, in order to contribute to the revival of their core values and democratic ideals.
It is fed by the evolutions of contemporary society, where chosen consumption is progressively replacing mass consumerism, thus moderating the producer-consumer dichotomy, which allows new types of relationships between actors to emerge.
The progressive disappearance of the borders between consumption actors is key to our work, as the mutualist insurance companies’ stakeholders build new types of relations, beyond classic consumption relations, which yields not only exchange value and use value, but also a linking value.
The concept of linking value was originally developed by social science, and further brand community developments have led to mobilize this notion in the marketing field. Its usage in the field of insurance services is new.
Our work comprises a survey among members of Groupe Macif, including interviews with Macif employees, Macif delegates, and Macif’s historic founder. Linking value is an “evasive object”, and we had to implement a specific research methodology in order to bring it to light and characterize it within the company. To analyze the interviews, we used an appropriate coding technique, through dedicated software (Modalisa).
The research is carried through a double data analysis method, named etic - emic (or horizontal – vertical), aimed first at understanding what has a meaning in the respondent’s locutions, and then at identifying the elements of structure of the linking value from the meanings identified. Such reasoning requires that the interviewer has empathy capacities with the respondents.
Our research brings the following results:
·        First, we qualify the “link experience” based on emotions, a reciprocity intention, an ethical functioning and shared confidence.
·        We then propose a characterization of linking value in the mutualist field, based on an extension to Rémy’s typology (2000), which is the current reference for services companies.
·        Next, we show how linking value emerges, depending on it being based on a priori activism, or on a posteriori relationship between the employees and the policy holder.
·        We establish the main characteristics of linking value: its capacity to temper the otherness created by the contract, an asymmetry between the partners of the exchange, the very lack of community feelings among members.
·        We expose the privileged expression vectors for this linking value: the empathy deployed by company’s employees and the solidarity schemes.
·        Recognition emerges also as a foundation to linking value.

We register our reasoning in the field of recognition theory, as it founds an ethic of interpersonal relationship, constituent of social link. The mutual recognition dynamics allows each individual to experience a “collective revival”, and to share his belonging to a political or ethical community, without losing his identity. Mutualist insurance companies need to recognize such a pluralist community, in which each individual sees himself in the purpose of a company model, as this recognition founds linking value.

We finally show that resuming the democratic ideals that historically founded Mutualist Associations is what will allow them to restore an authentic social link, in the spirit of modern mutualism.

Keywords: linking value, social link, gift, symbolic exchange, consuming experience, communities, marketing, consumer culture, postmodernity, identity, understanding approach, democracy, mutualism, recognition, social economy, Macif, insurance, mutualist insurance

The belief that Aristotle opposes potency (dunamis) to actuality (energeia or entelecheia) has gone mostly untested. This essay defines and distinguishes forms of the Opposition Hypothesis—the Actualization, Privation, and Modal—examining the texts and arguments adduced to support them. Using Aristotle's own account of opposition, the texts appear instead to show that potency and actuality are compatible, while arguments for their opposition produce intractable problems. Notably, Aristotle's refutation of the Megarian Identity Hypothesis applies with equal or greater force to the Opposition Hypothesis. For Aristotle, then, potency and actuality are compatible.

La tesis tiene como objeto la indagación acerca de las formass de crédito cooperativo y mutual de crédito como posibles fuentes de financiamiento para microemprendimientos y mipymes del sector cultural y creativo. Adopta una metodología cualitativa mediante el estudio de casos, a través de entrevistas semiestructuradas. Estas fueron realizadas a veinte unidades económicas con diversas características dentro del sector cultural creativo, a tres mutuales de crédito y a tres cooperativas de crédito.
Con el trabajo de campo se buscó establecer en qué condiciones los emprendimientos estudiados podrían aprovechar las fuentes de  financiamiento de nuestro interés, ya sea mediante su incorporación como asociadas a una institución ya existente o mediante la conformación de una institución nueva, sin historia previa.
La primera parte del marco teórico de la tesis consiste en la presentación y definición de los conceptos que serán usados en el resto del trabajo: financiamiento, industria cultural, industria creativa, microemprendimiento y MiPyME. Luego se fundamenta nuestro enfoque y nuestro interés en instituciones que funcionan bajo los principios cooperativos. A continuación se hace una detallada y extensa descripción de los problemas que las unidades económicas pequeñas, tanto de sectores creativos y culturales como de otros, tienen normalmente para acceder a financiamiento en el sector bancario en nuestro país. La tesis sigue con una descripción técnica e histórica de las cooperativas y las mutuales, así como de las instituciones del asociativismo que se dedican al crédito y que son foco de nuestro interés: las cooperativas de
crédito y las mutuales de crédito. Finalmente, se desarrolla toda la información recabada en las más de veinte entrevistas que conformaron el trabajo de campo.
La tesis logra identificar las amplias dificultades que la figura de la cooperativa de crédito muestra actualmente ante las diferentes demandas financieras que el sector cultural y creativo podría llegar a presentarle; mientras que por otra parte, logra identificar en las mutuales de crédito un mecanismo mucho más permeable a las necesidades de pequeñas unidades económicas con una evaluación crediticia desfavorable, como suele suceder en nuestro campo en cuestión.
Por último, se propone la incorporación de las mutuales de crédito a la actividad de los espacios culturales, tal como ya funcionan con mucho éxito en muchos clubes deportivos en diversas provincias de nuestro país, asegurándoles ingresos adicionales, sustentabilidad, solidez económica y financiera, y proporcionando valiosos servicios a sus asociados

Not all floral visitors attracted to flowers are pollinators. Instead, some visitors circumvent the floral opening, usually removing nectar without contacting the anthers and/or stigma. Here we review the evolutionary ecology of nectar robbing from both the plant and animal perspective. Effects of robbing on female and male components of plant reproduction range from negative to positive. Their underlying mechanisms are diverse, including direct effects and indirect effects mediated through changes in pollination. We detail how plants may be able to deter robbers through morphological and chemical traits. For the evolutionary ecology of robbing to move beyond a phytocentric perspective, studies must also address the causes of robbing and the consequences for both robbers and pollinators. We use an energetics approach to evaluate these causes and consequences. Finally, we highlight unanswered questions in need of further research.

This article reconstructs the profile of the members of Centro Operário da
Bahia in terms of socio-occupational and ethnic-national. The text recovers a
broad and complex associative web in which those individuals got involved
since XIX century, composed by religious brotherhoods, associations of mutual
support, abolitionist groups, republican clubs and trade unions. The research
reveals that this fraction of the working class was composed by black craftsmen
and half-bloods working men, who had better working conditions, and whose
salaries were also better than other textile workers, thus, resulting in the increase
of the professional skills, education and political citizenship, differentiating
them from the larger sectors of the black community which continued to be
excluded from social rights and out of the formal working market after the
Slavery Abolition and the Republic.

O artigo reconstitui o perfil dos membros do Centro Operário da Bahia em
termos sócio-ocupacional e étnico-nacional e recompõe a ampla e complexa
rede associativa na qual aqueles indivíduos se envolveram desde o século XIX,
formada por irmandades religiosas, associações de auxílio-mútuo, sociedades
abolicionistas, clubes republicanos e sindicatos. A pesquisa revela que essa
fração da classe operária era formada fundamentalmente por artesãos negros e
mestiços, detentores de condições de trabalho e salários superiores aos dos
operários fabris, elevado grau de qualificação profissional, instrução e cidadania
política, no que se diferenciavam dos amplos setores da população negro-mestiça que continuaram excluídos de direitos sociais e fora do mercado de
trabalho formal após a Abolição em 1888 e a República em 1889.

Nectar robbers are birds, insects, or other flower visitors that remove nectar from flowers through a hole pierced or bitten in the corolla. This paper is a review of the effects of nectar robbers on pollinators, pollination, and fitness of the plants they rob. Charles Darwin assumed that nectar robbers had a negative impact on the plants that they visit, but research done in the last 50 years indicates that they often have a beneficial or neutral effect. Several studies document that robbers frequently pollinate the plants that they visit. Robbers may also have an indirect effect on the behavior of the legitimate pollinators, and in some circumstances, the change in pollinator behavior could result in improved fitness through increased pollen flow and outcrossing. The effects of nectar robbers are complex and depend, in part, on the identity of the robber, the identity of the legitimate pollinator, how much nectar the robbers remove, and the variety of floral resources available in the environment.

Proudhon’s anarchism and its descendant theories provide frameworks in which archaeologists can critique and classify acts of resistance in inherent oppressive systems.  Reviewing piracy, smuggling, informal and illicit markets and interactions in the 17th-19th century Caribbean presents a tumultuous and dynamic environment whereby individuals fled and resisted, engaging in the art of not being governed and engaged withdrawal.  While not utopian, the communities of practitioners provide insight into experiments in anarchy.

Across the tree of life, hosts have evolved mechanisms to control and mediate interactions with symbiotic partners. We suggest that the evolution of physical structures that allow hosts to spatially separate symbionts, termed compartmentalization, is a common mechanism used by hosts. Such com-partmentalization allows hosts to: (i) isolate symbionts and control their reproduction; (ii) reward cooperative symbionts and punish or stop interactions with non-cooperative symbionts; and (iii) reduce direct conflict among different symbionts strains in a single host. Compartmentalization has allowed hosts to increase the benefits that they obtain from symbiotic partners across a diversity of interactions, including legumes and rhizobia, plants and fungi, squid and Vibrio, insects and nutrient provisioning bacteria , plants and insects, and the human microbiome. In cases where compartmentalization has not evolved, we ask why not. We argue that when partners interact in a competitive hierarchy, or when hosts engage in partnerships which are less costly, compartmentalization is less likely to evolve. We conclude that compartmentalization is key to understanding the evolution of symbiotic cooperation. This article is part of the theme issue 'The role of the microbiome in host evolution'.

"New peasants and new farm labourers. Mutualism and resistance in Italian land workers’ movements"
Over the last 15 years, social scientists have paid a growing attention to food activism in Italy; nonetheless, much research has been devoted to activism in the domain of consumption, while rather less attention has been paid to food workers’ activism. This article describes a number of workers’ movements and organizations – of both peasants and farm labourers – whose activism is linked to the issues of agricultural labour and the social conditions of food production. In recent years, such movements have developed new practices and have proposed radically alternative views and discourses concerning the food system, in opposition to the corporations of agro-industry and food retail. In this review, I use the categories of “mutualism” and “resistance”, as elaborated by the sociologist and historian Pino Ferraris in his analysis of the early Italian and European workers’ movements.

Keywords: food activism, peasant movements, farm workers' movements, Italy, agricultural labour, mutualism

Mutualistic symbioses are defined as intimate inter-species interactions beneficial to all species partners. In reality, however, mutualistic symbioses are more intricate, complex, diverse and variable than the formal definition suggests; understanding this complexity is essential to understanding mutualism dynamics. Widely distributed both geographically and taxonomically, mutualistic symbioses play a significant role in the biology of organisms. Iconic examples of mutualisms such as lichens, reef- building corals with algal symbionts, and mycorrhizal fungi with terrestrial plants, highlight the prevalence of many symbiotic mutualisms in resource-limited condi- tions. The several important examples of hereditary microbial symbiosis in insects call attention to the importance of hereditarily transmitted symbioses as well. But there are also mutualisms that do not fit the ecologi- cal paradigm of partnerships forged by nutrient scarcity, and evolutionarily persistent, horizontally-transmitted mutualisms which challenge the notion that hereditary symbiosis is the only stable form of mutualistic symbiosis. In the face of ubiquitous immune defences among organisms, the persistence and ubiquity of mutualistic symbiosis seems a physiologically improbable phenom- enon. But recent research suggests a possible resolution to this paradox, in revealing the involvement of immune mechanisms in selection, tolerance and maintenance of beneficial foreign microbes, as well as recognition and elimination of pathogens.