Forget what you might have heard about “nature, red in tooth and claw”. Mother Nature, bless her heart, may be much kinder and gentler than most people give her credit for.
That will come as a surprise to many ecologists, who for decades have tended to focus on the “selfish” ways organisms make life harder for one another, such as when one species preys on another or competes with it for space or food. In contrast, relatively few ecologists have studied the ways in which species – unconsciously, of course – make life easier for their neighbours. These positive interactions…
