co-existence is not uncommon. Cheaters often exist alongside mutualistic relationships, and in obligate mutualism the presence of third party explorers early in the formation of the relationship may protect the host-symbiont relationship from further exploitation later on.

Transformation

Once a mutualistic group has reached a point of stability, where both species are benefiting and there is not a destabilizing problem with cheaters, the third stage, transformation, can occur. In this stage, the mutualists lose the ability

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