Unimodal effects of pigment richness on niche and fitness differences explain species richness and ecosystem function in light-limited phytoplankton communities
Abstract:Trait diversity is traditionally seen as promoting species richness and ecosystem function. Species with dissimilar traits would partition available resources, increasing niche differences, facilitating coexistence and increasing ecosystem function. Here we first show, using theory and simulations for light-limited phytoplankton, that combing photosynthetic pigments is indeed a necessary condition for coexistence and stimulates ecosystem function. However, pigment richness does mostly not permit the coexistenc… Show more
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