Publications

Publications

For the most up-to-date list, see Google Scholar.

 

2025

[79] Carlson CI, Frederickson* ME, Osmond* MM. How genotype-by-environment interactions can maintain variation in mutualisms. The American Naturalist. 207(2) *Authors contributed equally

[78] Daniels* J, McCallum* M, Neal N, Nkwocha E, Machado SR, Carter H, Lam E, Peng C, O’Brien A, Wei N, Frederickson ME, Tan J. Introducing a novel course-based undergraduate research experience using duckweed as a model system. Integrative Organismal Biology. 8(1):obaf049. *Authors contributed equally

[77] Boyle JA, Murphy B, Teng F, Babaei Zadeh P, Ensminger I, Stinchcombe* JR, Frederickson* ME. Mutualism mediates legume response to microbial climate legacies. Ecology and Evolution. 15(10):e72271. *Authors contributed equally

[76] Nathan P, Shahid A, Datta A, Gowda V, Frederickson ME. Are ant-plant mutualisms stronger at lower latitudes? A case study using the castor bean plant. Oecologia. 207(8):130.

[75] Radhakrishnan P, Frederickson ME, Toh SM. How student perceptions of teaching are biased against women and ethnic minority professors. In: Palgrave Studies in Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Indigenization in Business. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland; p. 99–120.

2024

[74] Harrison TL, Stinchcombe* JR, Frederickson* ME. Elevated rates of molecular evolution genome-wide in mutualist legumes and rhizobia. Molecular Biology and Evolution. 41(12):msae245. *Authors contributed equally

[73] Boyle JA, Murphy BK, Ensminger I, Stinchcombe* JR, Frederickson* ME. Resistance and resilience of soil microbiomes under climate change. Ecosphere. 15(12):e70077. *Authors contributed equally

[72] Boyle JA, Frederickson ME, Stinchcombe JR. Genetic architecture of heritable leaf microbes. Microbiology Spectrum. 12(7):e0061024.

[71] Laurich JR, Lash E, O’Brien AM, Pogoutse O, Frederickson ME. Community interactions among microbes give rise to host-microbiome mutualisms in an aquatic plant. mBio. 15(7):e0097224.

[70] Meadley-Dunphy SA, Malé PJG, Sherin LM, Frederickson ME. The invasive European fire ant forms distinct genetic populations in urban and parkland Toronto (Canada). Biological Invasions. 26(5):1581–93.

2023

[69] O’Brien AM, Laurich JR, Frederickson ME. Evolutionary consequences of microbiomes for hosts: impacts on host fitness, traits, and heritability. Evolution 78 (2): 237–52.

[68] Harrison TL, Parshuram ZA, Frederickson* ME, Stinchcombe* JR. Is there a latitudinal diversity gradient for mutualistic microbes? A case study with sensitive partridge peas. Molecular Ecology 33 (1): e17191. *Authors contributed equally.

[67] Nathan P, Economo EP, Guenard B, Simonsen A, Frederickson ME. Generalized mutualisms promote range expansion in both plant and ant partners. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 290: 20231083.

[66] Kose T, Lins TF, Wang J, O’Brien AM, Sinton D, Frederickson ME. Accelerated high-throughput plant imaging and phenotyping system for small organisms. PLOS One 18: e0287739.

[65] Carlson C, Frederickson ME. An emerging view of coevolution in the legume-rhizobium mutualism. Molecular Ecology 32: 3793-3797.

[64] Nathan P, Datta A, Shahid A, Frederickson ME. Where there are ants, there are ant-mimics: occurrence of ant-mimic spiders (genus Myrmarachne) on castor plants across India. Peckhamia 297(1): 1-8.

 

Popular Media

2022

[63] Parshuram ZA, Harrison TL, Simonsen AK, Stinchcombe JR, Frederickson ME. Non-symbiotic legumes are more invasive, but only if polyploid. New Phytologist 237: 758-765. *Authors contributed equally.

[62] Laurich JR, Reid CG, Biel C, Wu T, Knox C, Frederickson ME. Genetic Architecture of multiple mutualisms and mating system in Turnera ulmifolia. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 36: 280-295. 

[61] O’Brien* AM, Yu* ZH, Pencer C, Frederickson ME, LeFevre GH, Passeport E. Harnessing plant-microbiome interactions for bioremediation across a freshwater urbanization gradient. Water research, 223: p.118926. *Authors contributed equally

[60] O’Brien AM, Lins TF, Yang Y, Frederickson ME, Sinton D, Rochman CM. Microplastics shift impacts of climate change on a plant-microbe mutualism: temperature, CO2 and leachate from tire wear particles. Environmental Research 203: 111727.

2021

[57] King MM, Frederickson ME. The Pandemic Penalty: The gendered effects of COVID-19 on scientific productivity. Socius 7: 1-24. 

[56] O’Brien AM, Jack C, Friesen ML, Frederickson ME. Whose trait is it anyways? Coevolution of joint phenotypes and genetic architecture in mutualisms. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 288: 20202483. 

 

Ant invasion: how pets become pests. The Conversation

2020

[55] Batstone RT, O’Brien AM, Harrison TL, Frederickson ME. Experimental evolution makes microbes more cooperative with their local host genotype. Science 370: 476-478.

[54] Prior KM, Meadley Dunphy SA, Frederickson ME. Interactions between seed-dispersing ant species structure plant communities. Journal of Animal Ecology 89: 2485-2495. 

[53] Zhang X, Wang L, Li J, Batstone R, Frederickson ME. Medicago truncatula adjusts root proliferation, nodule formation, and partner choice to cope with local N-heterogeneity. Plant and Soil 450: 417-428.

[52] O’Brien AM, Laurich J, Lash E, Frederickson ME. Mutualistic outcomes across plant populations, microbes, and environments in the duckweed Lemna minor. Microbial Ecology 80: 384-397.

, 384–397

[51] Batstone RT, Peters MAE, Simonsen AK, Stinchcombe JR, Frederickson ME. Environmental variation impacts trait expression and selection in the legume-rhizobium symbiosis. American Journal of Botany 107: 195-208.

[50] O’Brien AM, Yu ZH, Luo D, Laurich J, Passeport E, Frederickson ME. 2020. Resilience to multiple stressors in an aquatic plant and its microbiome. American Journal of Botany 107: 1-13.

[49] Frederickson ME. 2020. No selection for cheating in a natural meta-population of rhizobia. Ecology Letters 23: 409-411.

[48] Meadley Dunphy SA, Prior KM, Frederickson ME. 2020. Invasive ants disperse seeds farther than native ants, affecting the spatial pattern of seedling recruitment and survival. Oecologia 192: 119-132.

[47] Malé PJG, Youngerman E, Pierce NE, Frederickson ME. 2020. Mating system, population genetics, and phylogeography of the devil’s garden ant, Myrmelachista schumanni, in the Peruvian Amazon. Insectes Sociaux 67: 113-125. 

 

Women are getting less research done than men during this coronavirus pandemic. The Conversation

2019

[46] Kaur KM, Malé PJG, Spence E, Gomez C, Frederickson ME. 2019. Using text-mined trait data to test for cooperate-and-radiate co-evolution between ants and plants. PLOS Computational Biology 15: e1007323.

[45] Gordon SCC, Meadley Dunphy SA, Prior KM, Frederickson ME. 2019. Asynchrony between ant seed dispersal activity and fruit dehiscence of myrmecochorous plants. American Journal of Botany 106: 71-80.

2018

[44] Harrison TL, Simonsen AK, Stinchcombe JR, Frederickson ME. 2018. More partners, more ranges: generalist legumes spread more easily around the globe. Biology Letters 14: 20180616.

[43] Batstone RT, Carscadden KA, Afkhami ME, Frederickson ME. 2018. Using niche breadth theory to explain generalization in mutualisms. Ecology 99: 1039-1050.

 

 

Canadian professors still face a gender pay gap. The Conversation

2017

[42] Arcila Hernández LM, Sanders J, Miller GA, Ravenscraft A, Frederickson ME. 2017. Ant-plant mutualism: a dietary by-product of a tropical ant’s macronutrient requirements. Ecology 98: 3141-3151. 

[41] Malé PJG, Turner KM, Doha M, Anreiter I, Allen AM, Sokolowski MB, Frederickson ME. 2017. An ant-plant mutualism through the lens of cGMP-dependent kinase genes. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 284: 20170896. 

[40] Frederickson ME. 2017. Mutualisms are not on the verge of breakdown. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 32: 727-734

[39] Sanders J, Lukasik P, Frederickson ME, Russell J, Koga R, Pierce NE. 2017. Dramatic differences in gut bacterial densities correlate with diet and habitat in rainforest ants. Integrative and Comparative Biology 57: 705-722.

[38] Barker JL, Bronstein JL, Friesen ML, Jones EI, Reeve HK, Zink AG, Frederickson ME. 2017. Synthesizing perspectives on the evolution of cooperation within and between species. Evolution 71: 814-825.

[37] Baker CM, Martins DJ, Pelaez JN, Billen JPJ, Pringle A, Frederickson ME, Pierce NE. 2017. Distinctive fungal communities in an obligate African ant-plant mutualism. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 284: 20162501.

[36] Batstone RT, Dutton EM, Wang D, Yang M, Frederickson ME. 2017. The evolution of symbiont preference traits in the model legume Medicago truncatula. New Phytologist 213: 1850-1861.

2016

[35] Frederickson ME, Bronstein JL. 2016. From lichens to the law: cooperation as a theme in the diverse career of Roscoe Pound. The American Naturalist 188: ii-iii.

[34] Pohl S, Frederickson ME, Elgar MA, Pierce NE. 2016. Colony diet influences ant worker foraging and attendance of myrmecophilous lycaenid caterpillars. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 4: 114.

[33] Dutton EM, Luo EY, Cembrowski AR, Shore JS, Frederickson ME. 2016. Three’s a crowd: trade-offs between attracting pollinators and ant bodyguards with nectar rewards in Turnera. The American Naturalist 188: 38-51.

[32] Dutton EM, Shore JS, Frederickson ME. 2016. Extrafloral nectar increases seed dispersal by ants in Turnera ulmifolia. Biotropica 48: 429-432.

[31] Meadley Dunphy SA, Prior KM, Frederickson ME. 2016. An invasive slug exploits an ant-seed dispersal mutualism. Oecologia 181: 149-159.

[30] Riehl C, Frederickson ME. 2016. Cheating and punishment in cooperative animal societies. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 371: 20150090.

 

2015 

[29] Jones E, Afkhami M, Akcay E, Bronstein J, Bshary R, Frederickson M, Heath K, Hoeksema J, Ness J, Pankey S, Porter S, Sachs J, Scharnagl K, Friesen M. 2015. Cheaters must prosper: reconciling theoretical and empirical perspectives on cheating in mutualism. Ecology Letters 18: 1270-1284.

[28] Cembrowski AR, Reurink G, Arcila Hernandez LM, Sanders JG, Youngerman E, Frederickson ME. 2015. Sporadic pollen consumption among tropical ants. Insectes Sociaux 62: 379-382.

[27] Prior KM, Robinson JM, Meadley Dunphy SA, Frederickson ME. 2015. Mutualism between co-introduced species facilitates invasion and alters plant community structure. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 282: 20142846.

 

2014

[26] Ho EKH, Frederickson ME. 2014. Alate susceptibility in ants. Ecology and Evolution 4: 4209-4219.

[25] Mayer V, Fredericskon ME, McKey D, Blatrix R. 2014. Current issues in the evolutionary ecology of ant-plant symbioses. New Phytologist 202: 749-764.

[24] Sanders JG, Powell S, Kronauer DJC, Vasconcelos H, Frederickson ME, Pierce NE. 2014. Stability and phylogenetic correlation in gut microbiota: lessons from ants and apes. Molecular Ecology 23: 1268-1283.

[23] Prior KM, Saxena K, Frederickson ME. 2014. Seed handling behaviors of native and invasive seed-dispersing ants differentially influence seedling emergence in an invasive plant. Ecological Entomology 39: 66-74.

[22] Cembrowski AR, Tan MGR, Thomson JD, Frederickson ME. 2014. Ants and ant scent reduce bumblebee pollination of artificial flowers. The American Naturalist 183: 133-139.

 

2013

[21] Frederickson ME. 2013. Rethinking mutualism stability: cheaters and the evolution of sanctions. The Quarterly Review of Biology 88: 269-295.

[20] Turner KM, Frederickson ME. 2013. Signals can trump rewards in attracting seed-dispersing ants. PLOS One 8:e71871.

[19] Frederickson ME, Ravenscraft A, Arcila Hernandez LM, Booth G, Astudillo V, Miller GA. 2013. What happens when ants fail at plant defence? Cordia nodosa dynamically adjusts its investment in both direct and indirect resistance traits in response to herbivore damage. Journal of Ecology 101: 400-409.

 

2012

[18] Arcila Hernandez LM, Todd EV, Miller GA, Frederickson ME. 2012. Salt intake in Amazonian ants: too much of a good thing? Insectes Sociaux 59: 425-432.

[17] Dutton EM, Frederickson ME. 2012. Why ant pollination is rare: new evidence and implications of the antibiotic hypothesis. Arthropod-Plant Interactions 6: 561-569.

[16] Frederickson ME, Ravenscraft A, Miller GA, Arcila Hernandez LM, Booth G, Pierce NE. 2012. The direct and ecological costs of an ant-plant symbiosis. The American Naturalist 179: 768-778.

2011 & earlier

[15] Archetti M, Scheuring I, Hoffman M, Frederickson ME, Pierce NE, Yu DW. 2011. Economic game theory for mutualism and cooperation. Ecology Letters 14: 1300-1312.

[14] Weyl EG, Frederickson ME, Yu DW, Pierce NE. 2011. Reply to Kiers et al.: Economic and biological clarity in the theory of mutualism. PNAS 108: E8.

[13] Weyl EG, Frederickson ME, YuDW, Pierce NE. 2010. Economic contract theory tests models of mutualism. PNAS 107: 15712-15716.

[12] Debout GDG, Frederickson ME, Aron S, Yu DW. 2010. Unexplained split sex ratios in the Neotropical plant-ant Allomerus octoarticulatus var. demerarae (Myrmicinae): a test of hypotheses. Evolution 64: 126-141.

[11] Edwards DP*, Frederickson ME*, Shepard GH, Yu DW. 2009. A plant needs ants like a dog needs fleas: Myrmelachista schumanni ants gall many tree species to create housing. The American Naturalist 174: 734-750. *These two authors contributed equally to this publication.

[10] Frederickson ME. 2009. Conflict over reproduction in an ant-plant symbiosis: why Allomerus octoarticulatus ants sterilize Cordia nodosa trees. The American Naturalist 173: 675-681.

[9] Frederickson ME, Gordon DM. 2009. The intertwined population biology of two Amazonian myrmecophytes and their symbiotic ants. Ecology 90: 1595-1607.

[8] Frederickson ME. 2009. Ecological models of mutualism, exemplified by interactions between ants and myrmecophiles. Ecology 90: 2336-2337. (Book review)

[7] Frederickson ME. 2008. The ecology and evolution of ant-plant interactions. Ecoscience 15: 290-291. (Book review)

[6] Frederickson ME. 2008. The evolutionary biology of herbivorous insects: specialization, speciation, and radiation. The Quarterly Review of Biology 83: 413. (Book review)

[5] Frederickson ME, Gordon DM. 2007. The devil to pay: a cost of mutualism with Myrmelachista schumanni ants in ‘devil’s gardens’ is increased herbivory on Duroia hirsuta trees. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 274: 1117-1123.

[4] Frederickson ME. 2006. The reproductive phenology of an Amazonian ant species reflects the seasonal availability of its nest sites. Oecologia 149: 418-427.

[3] Frederickson ME, Greene MJ, Gordon DM. ‘Devil’s gardens’ bedevilled by ants. 2005. Nature 437: 495-496.

[2] Frederickson ME. 2005. Ant species confer different partner benefits on two Neotropical myrmecophytes. Oecologia 143: 387-395.

[1] Yu DW, Wilson HB, Frederickson ME, Palomino W, De la Colina R, Edwards DE, Balareso AA. 2004. Experimental demonstration of species coexistence enabled by dispersal limitation. Journal of Animal Ecology 73: 1102-1104.

 

Popular Media

Ants are friendly to some trees, not so nice to others. U.S. News & World Report

When industrious ants go to far. Science Daily

Rodríguez AM. 2009. Secret of the Plant-killing Ants … and More! Enslow Publishers, Inc.: Berkeley Heights, USA.

Attack of the tree-killing Peruvian ants. The Baltimore Sun

A devil’s garden tended by ants. The New York Times

BBC’s The Naked Scientists

BBC’s Life in the Undergrowth with David Attenborough

Devilish ants control the garden. BBC News

Ants use herbicide on their gardens. New Scientist

Book Contributions

Frederickson ME. 2015. Some ants sterilize their host plants, but are they “cheaters”? In: Bronstein J (ed.) Mutualism. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 99-100.