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Abstract Multispecies mutualistic interactions are ubiquitous and essential in nature, yet they face several threats, many of which have been exacerbated in the Anthropocene era. Understanding the factors that drive the stability and persistence of mutualism has become increasingly important in light of global change. Although dispersal is widely recognized as a crucial spatially explicit process in maintaining biodiversity and community structure, knowledge about how the dispersal of mutualists contributes to the persistence of mutualistic systems remains limited. In this study, we used a synthetic mutualism formed by genetically modified budding yeast to investigate the effect of dispersal on the persistence and stability of mutualisms under exploitation. We found that dispersal increased the persistence of exploited mutualisms by 80% compared to the isolated systems. Furthermore, our results showed that dispersal increased local diversity, decreased beta diversity among local communities, and stabilized community structure at the regional scale. Our results indicate that dispersal can allow mutualisms to persist in meta-communities by reintroducing species that are locally competitively excluded by exploiters. With limited dispersal, e.g. due to increased fragmentation of meta-communities, mutualisms might be more prone to breakdown. Taken together, our results highlight the critical role of dispersal in facilitating the persistence of mutualism. 

Abstract Insect colouration mediated by melanization can assist in dealing with environmental temperatures. However, melanin synthesis can be costly and depends on the ability of insects to acquire enough energy and nutrients from their diets. Due to the increased plant C:N ratio associated with elevated CO₂concentrations, insect herbivores' melanization could be limited by the amount of nitrogen they acquire from their host plants.To investigate how diet C:N impacts the potential colour response to temperature, we usedManduca sextacaterpillars reared at different combinations of temperatures and diet C:N ratios, and measured pupal mass and development time (performance metrics) and colour morphology.The high‐temperature treatment (27°C) had a positive impact on larval performance, whereas a nitrogen‐poor diet was related to lower performance. Using a fitness metric that considers both pupal mass and development time, we found a positive effect of both high temperature and nitrogen‐rich diet treatments on larval fitness.We found that diet and temperature affected the colouration of larvae, in which larvae reared at the low‐temperature treatment (18°C) and fed a nitrogen‐rich diet were darker than their counterparts.Our results provide experimental evidence of the impact of diet on melanization and suggest that CO₂‐related changes in plant quality could be associated with changes in insect herbivore performance and colouration.