TY  - JOUR
A1  - Ehrlich, Elias
A1  - Kath, Nadja Jeanette
A1  - Gaedke, Ursula
T1  - The shape of a defense-growth trade-off governs seasonal trait dynamics in natural phytoplankton
JF  - The ISME journal
N2  - Theory predicts that trade-offs, quantifying costs of functional trait adjustments, crucially affect community trait adaptation to altered environmental conditions, but empirical verification is scarce. We evaluated trait dynamics (antipredator defense, maximum growth rate, and phosphate affinity) of a lake phytoplankton community in a seasonally changing environment, using literature trait data and 21 years of species-resolved high-frequency biomass measurements. The trait data indicated a concave defense-growth trade-off, promoting fast-growing species with intermediate defense. With seasonally increasing grazing pressure, the community shifted toward higher defense levels at the cost of lower growth rates along the trade-off curve, while phosphate affinity explained some deviations from it. We discuss how low fitness differences of species, inferred from model simulations, in concert with stabilizing mechanisms, e.g., arising from further trait dimensions, may lead to the observed phytoplankton diversity. In conclusion, quantifying trade-offs is key for predictions of community trait adaptation and biodiversity under environmental change.
KW  - coexistence
KW  - community ecology
KW  - diversity
KW  - evolution
KW  - fitness
KW  - functional traits
KW  - lake
KW  - maintenance
KW  - mechanisms
KW  - plankton
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41396-020-0619-1
SN  - 1751-7362
SN  - 1751-7370
VL  - 14
IS  - 6
SP  - 1451
EP  - 1462
PB  - Nature Publishing Group
CY  - London
ER  -