Functional redundancy in natural pico-phytoplankton communities depends on temperature and biogeography.

ABSTRACT: Biodiversity affects ecosystem function, and how this relationship will change in a warming world is a major and well-examined question in ecology. Yet, it remains understudied for pico-phytoplankton communities, which contribute to carbon cycles and aquatic food webs year-round. Observational studies show a link between phytoplankton community diversity and ecosystem stability, but there is only scarce causal or empirical evidence. Here, we sampled phytoplankton communities from two geographically related regions with distinct thermal and biological properties in the Southern Baltic Sea and carried out a series of dilution/regrowth experiments across three assay temperatures. This allowed us to investigate the effects of loss of rare taxa and establish causal links in natural communities

SUBMITTER: Zhong D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7480144 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature