Phytoplankton community structuring and succession in a competition-neutral resource landscape

ABSTRACT: Phytoplankton community composition and succession affect aquatic food webs and biogeochemistry. Resource competition is commonly viewed as an important governing factor for community structuring and this perception is imbedded in modern ecosystem models. Quantitative consideration of the physical spacing between phytoplankton cells, however, suggests that direct competition for growth-limiting resources is uncommon. Here we describe how phytoplankton size distributions and temporal successions are compatible with a competition-neutral resource landscape. Consideration of phytoplankton-herbivore interactions with proportional feeding size ranges yields small-cell dominated size distributions consistent with observations for stable aquatic environments, whereas predator–prey temporal lags a

SUBMITTER: Behrenfeld M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9645248 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature