bio

Biological market

A way of seeing a symbiosis as a marketplace, where two parties trade goods under rules much like supply and demand. Toby Kiers' work showed that in the mycorrhizal partnership, plants preferentially route carbon to the fungal threads that deliver the most phosphorus, and fungi route phosphorus to the roots that pay the best carbon — both sides rewarding good partners and "sanctioning" stingy ones. No coordinating intelligence is needed: two parties able to reward and withhold are enough to keep the trade fair.