Judith Bronstein

About

Judith Bronstein is a University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona, a position she has held since 2012. Her research focuses on the ecology and evolution of interspecific interactions, particularly mutualisms, which are mutually beneficial relationships between species. Using a combination of field observations, experiments, and theoretical approaches, her work examines how population processes, abiotic conditions, and community context influence the net effects of these interactions on the fitness of each participating species. Her specific areas of interest include conflicts of interest between mutualists and their consequences for maintaining beneficial outcomes, the causes and consequences of cheating within mutualisms, context-dependent outcomes in both mutualisms and antagonisms, and the threats posed by human activities to mutualistic relationships. Her empirical research has recently concentrated on exploited pollination mutualisms in deserts, desert grasslands, and montane habitats in Arizona and Colorado. Throughout her career, she has contributed to developing a strong conceptual foundation for the study of mutualistic interactions.

Research topics

• Biology
• Ecology
• Sociology
• Evolutionary biology
• Zoology
• Genetics
• Botany
• Geography

Selected publications

• Generalising indirect defence and resistance of plants

  Ecology Letters · 2020 · 107 citations

  Indirect defence, the adaptive top-down control of herbivores by plant traits that enhance predation, is a central component of plant-herbivore interactions. However, the scope of interactions that comprise indirect defence and associated ecological and evolutionary processes has not been clearly defined. We argue that the range of plant traits that mediate indirect defence is much greater than previously thought, and we further organise major concepts surrounding their ecological functioning. D…

  DOI

• Our Current Understanding of Commensalism

  Annual Review of Ecology Evolution and Systematics · 2020 · 95 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Commensalisms, interactions between two species in which one species benefits and the other experiences no net effect, are frequently mentioned in the ecological literature but are surprisingly little studied. Here we review and synthesize our limited understanding of commensalism. We then argue that commensalism is not a single type of interaction; rather, it is a suite of phenomena associated with distinct ecological processes and evolutionary consequences. For each form of commensalism we def…

  DOI

• Optimal Defense Theory in an ant–plant mutualism: Extrafloral nectar as an induced defence is maximized in the most valuable plant structures

  Journal of Ecology · 2020 · 60 citations

  Abstract Plants allocate defences in order to decrease costs and maximize benefits against herbivores. The Optimal Defense Theory (ODT) predicts that continuously expressed (i.e. constitutive) defences are expected in structures of high value, whereas defences that are expressed or that increase their expression only after damage or upon risk of damage (i.e. induced defences) are expected in structures of low value. Although there are several studies evaluating ODT predictions, few studies have…

  DOI

• The Evolutionary Ecology of Mutualisms in Urban Landscapes

  Oxford University Press eBooks · 2020 · 32 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Abstract Mutualisms are critically important in maintaining the biodiversity and functioning of ecosystems. Mutualisms include a diverse array of interactions that result in reciprocal positive effects for both partners, including plant–pollinator, plant–seed disperser, and plant–rhizobia interactions. There is growing recognition that global environmental change can affect the ecological outcomes of mutualisms, but less attention has been paid to how urbanization in particular affects their evo…

  DOI

• Coevolutionary transitions from antagonism to mutualism explained by the Co-Opted Antagonist Hypothesis

  Nature Communications · 2021 · 27 citations

  There is now good evidence that many mutualisms evolved from antagonism; why or how, however, remains unclear. We advance the Co-Opted Antagonist (COA) Hypothesis as a general mechanism explaining evolutionary transitions from antagonism to mutualism. COA involves an eco-coevolutionary process whereby natural selection favors co-option of an antagonist to perform a beneficial function and the interacting species coevolve a suite of phenotypic traits that drive the interaction from antagonism to…

  DOI

Recent grants

• Collaborative Research: Context-Dependency in the Exploitation of Pollination Mutualisms

  NSF · $228k · 2014–2017

• DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Reinforcement of isolation between parasite host races

  NSF · $20k · 2016–2018

• Coevolution of Mutualism: Limits to Reproductive Success in a Fig/Pollinator Interaction

  NSF · $30k · 1994–1996

Frequent coauthors

• Rebecca E. Irwin

  Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory

  38 shared

• Sarah K. Richman

  ETH Zurich

  25 shared

• Goggy Davidowitz

  University of Arizona

  20 shared

• Régis Ferrière

  European Organization for Nuclear Research

  19 shared

• Elinor M. Lichtenberg

  University of North Texas

  17 shared

• Jacob M. Heiling

  Western Carolina University

  15 shared

• Takayuki Ohgushi

  Kyoto University

  12 shared

• Aviva Patel

  10 shared

Awards & honors

• Elected Fellow of the Ecological Society of America (2016)
• Pillar of Excellence Award, University of Arizona Honors Col…
• Named University Distinguished Professor, University of Ariz…
• Distinguished Service Award, National Science Foundation (20…
• Distinguished Career Teaching Award, College of Science, Uni…

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