Description

Antagonism between plants and animals seems to be the source of mutually beneficial relationships. When the benefits outweigh the costs, making an enemy your partner pays off in the long run. In this sense, some authors suggest that plants’ conquest over the land environments was primarily due to mutualistic relationships with pollinators and dispersers. Several studies have demonstrated that plants with scattered habitats could cross-breed more effectively and efficiently through pollination by flying animals. Additionally, the dispersal of seeds has caused distant places to be colonized, and non-mutualistic herbivores are having difficulty finding new individuals due to seed dispersal. In addition to the specialization of a few plants, particularly microhabitats, long-distance dissemination decreased herbivore and parasite populations.