ELIZABETH DENLEY is an ecologist, who has spent most of her life learning from the natural world. Here she explores cooperation in Nature, and what we can learn from this very common behavior, if we are to continue to survive on planet Earth.
Up until the second half of the 20th century, many scientists thought that the relationships between species in the natural world were conflictual. They assumed that plants and animals either competed for resources or ate each other. The world was painted as an aggressive place, “red in tooth and claw.” That all changed around 60 years ago, when naturalists and ecologists started to notice just how many species cooperate and collaborate.
This shift in worldview also coincided with a shift away from colonialism and toward a more collaborative vision for human societies. We are still in a transition phase, as the older structures and belief systems have not fully disappeared. I find it very helpful to explore friendship and cooperation in Nature, to see if we can learn a thing or two about how it operates at a very fundamental evolutionary level.
It turns out that we had a very narrow understanding of the Darwinian concept of “the evolution of the fittest.” “Fittest” doesn’t have to mean competitive advantage over others, climbing the ladder of success. That is a very outdated notion. “Fittest” can be the most effective collaborators, those who create a robust interdependent web of existence.
Naturalists use the word “symbiosis” to describe the relationships between species in eco systems, and the most common types of symbiosis are:
Mutualism – a mutually beneficial relationship.
Commensalism – a
relationship where one species benefits while the other is not harmed.
Parasitism – a
relationship where one species lives on or in a host species, usually causing harm to the
host.
Competition –a relationship where species compete for resources.
Predation
and herbivory –a relationship where one species eats another.
Mutualism and commensalism are what we would consider to be the “cooperative” relationships, as they bring benefit and cause no harm. Parasitism, competition, predation, and herbivory are the regulatory relationships, as they limit or reduce populations of species. Yet all these relationships are essential for creating balance and harmony in Nature. None are “good” or “bad” in the way we may try to judge them.
Examples of cooperation in Nature
To understand cooperation in Nature, let’s explore mutualism and commensalism. Coral reefs are a great place to start, with the very sweet relationship between sea anemones and clownfish. Anemone and clown fish live together. Normally, the anemone tentacles give off a nasty sting, but the clownfish have evolved a substance that protects them from the sting of the tentacles, so that they can hide amongst them, safe from predators. The anemones shelter and protect the clownfish, and the clownfish clean the anemones, provide them with nutrients, and scare off predatory butterfly fish. This cooperation helps both the fish and the anemones survive and thrive.
If we turn to dense tropical forests, we find beautiful flowering orchids, which are epiphytes living on the trunks and branches of trees. Orchids rely on the trees for sunlight, and for the water and nutrients that flow on the outer bark of the branches. Orchids are not large plants, they photosynthesize themselves, and they don’t harm the host trees in any way. Science tells us that the host plants don’t benefit from the orchards living on them, but it would be interesting to know if there are more subtle interactions that affect the consciousness of the orchids and the trees. We know so little about the relationships among other living beings.
Another cooperative relationship is found between egrets and grazing mammals like cows, buffalos, zebras, horses, rhinoceroses and elephants. The egrets are birds that coexist with their four-legged friends, sometimes riding on their backs. The birds feed on ticks and other ectoparasites on the skin of the mammals, reducing pests, and they also feed on the insects that are stirred up by the mammals when they are feeding. So both the mammals and the birds benefit from this partnership.
Closer to home, we humans have a cooperative relationship with microorganisms, especially the bacteria on our skin and in our digestive tract. The bacteria in our gut help us digest food and regulate the intestinal environment. In return, they feed off the food we eat.
There are also many stories throughout history of dolphins helping people, and in some times developing ongoing relationships. Wild dolphins are known to fish with local fisherman in places as far apart as Brazil, Mauretania, and Myanmar. There are also incredible stories of dolphins saving people’s lives, for example a group of four swimmers in New Zealand were saved from a great white shark by a pod of dolphins who swam in circles around them for 40 minutes until the shark lost interest, and the group could swim back to shore.
What can we learn?
For a start, these examples are just the tip of the iceberg – a few textbook examples that help us glimpse dimensions of interconnection we don’t yet understand. No species has evolved on its own; they have all evolved in the context of the ecosystems in which they live, and in relationship to the other species they live with.
No species has evolved on its
own;
they have all evolved in the context of
the ecosystems in which they live, and
in relationship
to the other species they live with.
If we humans are to become responsible citizens of planet Earth, we will have to become more attuned to the eco systems in which we live, and to the other species that coexist with us. What we see today is a result of us not doing that, of assuming that we are separate from Nature; worse, above Nature.
Just as colonial empires in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries invaded countries and imposed their decisions on the local people and places they colonized, so we continue to invade ecosystems we presume to own, and make decisions about what trees to cut down, what to plant, what animals to kill, and what minerals and underground water to dig up for our own use. We play with the life on this planet as if we own it. What sort of human evolution can we expect if we continue to take that route? Will it be in tune with Nature? And what can we do differently, like other plants and animals do, to cooperate and evolve within our ecosystems and with our fellow beings? It is a field open for discovery, one which may just help us to take the next step.
Illustrations by ARATI SHEDDE
Elizabeth Denley
Elizabeth is the founding editor of Heartfulness Magazine. She is Australian, loves meditating, writing, playing and singing music, gardening, thinking, spending time with her two grown up children, and life in general. She has been a st... Read More
