Does spatiotemporal nutrient variation allow more species to coexist?

ABSTRACT: Temporal heterogeneity in nutrient availability is known to increase phytoplankton diversity by allowing more species to coexist under different resource niches. Spatial heterogeneity has also been positively correlated with species diversity. Here we investigated how temporal and spatial differences in nutrient addition together impact biodiversity in metacommunities varying in the degree of connectivity among the patches. We used a microcosm experimental design to test two spatiotemporal ways of supplying nutrients: synchronously (nutrients were added regionally-to all four patches at the same time) and asynchronously (nutrients were added locally-to a different patch each time), combined with two different degrees of connectivity among the patches (low or high connectivity). We used thr

SUBMITTER: Di Carvalho JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7683490 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature