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Reply to: Broad definitions of enforcement are unhelpful for understanding evolutionary mechanisms of cooperation

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 4, page 323 (2020)Cite this article

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The Original Article was published on 10 February 2020

replying to S. C. Engelhardt & M. Taborsky Nature Ecology & Evolution https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-1088-7 (2020)

While Engelhardt and Taborsky1 agree with the core argument of our recent article2—that enforcement is central to the evolution of cooperation—they go on to suggest that our use of the word ‘enforcement’ is too broad and that we neglect to distinguish between behavioural manipulations that occur via helping or harming. We find no merit in these points.

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References

  1. Engelhardt, S. C. & Taborsky, M. Broad definitions of enforcement are unhelpful for understanding evolutionary mechanisms of cooperation. Nat. Ecol. Evol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-1088-7 (2020).

  2. Ågren, J. A., Davies, N. G. & Foster, K. R. Enforcement is central to the evolution of cooperation. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 3, 1018–1029 (2019).

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Acknowledgements

J.A.Å. is supported by a fellowship from the Wenner-Gren Foundations.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: J. Arvid Ågren, Nicholas G. Davies.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

    J. Arvid Ågren

  2. Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK

    Nicholas G. Davies

  3. Department of Zoology and Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Kevin R. Foster

Authors
  1. J. Arvid Ågren
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  2. Nicholas G. Davies
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  3. Kevin R. Foster
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Contributions

J.A.Å., N.G.D. and K.R.F. all substantially contributed to the concept, design, drafting and reviewing of the work.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kevin R. Foster.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Ågren, J.A., Davies, N.G. & Foster, K.R. Reply to: Broad definitions of enforcement are unhelpful for understanding evolutionary mechanisms of cooperation. Nat Ecol Evol 4, 323 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1112-y

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