Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1111/ele.13695
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Beyond nitrogen: phosphorus - estimating the minimum niche dimensionality for resource competition between phytoplankton
Author Hofmann, P.; Clark, A.; Hoffmann, P.; Chatzinotas, A.; Harpole, W.S. ORCID logo ; Dunker, S.
Source Titel Ecology Letters
Year 2021
Department UMB; iDiv; PHYDIV
Volume 24
Issue 4
Page From 761
Page To 771
Language englisch
Topic T5 Future Landscapes
T7 Bioeconomy
Data and Software links https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.h70rxwdhd
Supplements https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/downloadSupplement?doi=10.1111%2Fele.13695&file=ele13695-sup-0001-Supinfo.docx
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/downloadSupplement?doi=10.1111%2Fele.13695&file=ele13695-sup-0002-Appendix.xlsx
Keywords Cyanobacteria; green algae; Hutchinson; macronutrients; microcosm; micronutrients; N:P; phytoplankton; Redfield; trace elements
Abstract The niche dimensionality required for coexistence is often discussed in terms of the number of limiting resources. N and P limitation are benchmarks for studying phytoplankton interactions. However, it is generally agreed that limitation by small numbers of resources cannot explain the high phytoplankton diversity observed in nature. Here, we parameterised resource competition models using experimental data for six phytoplankton species grown in monoculture with nine potential limiting resources. We tested predicted species biomass from these models against observations in two‐species experimental mixtures. Uptake rates were similar across species, following the classic Redfield ratio. Model accuracy levelled out at around three to five resources suggesting the minimum dimensionality of this system. The models included the resources Fe, Mg, Na and S. Models including only N and P always performed poorly. These results suggest that high‐dimensional information about resource limitation despite stoichiometric constraints may be needed to accurately predict community assembly.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=24149
Hofmann, P., Clark, A., Hoffmann, P., Chatzinotas, A., Harpole, W.S., Dunker, S. (2021):
Beyond nitrogen: phosphorus - estimating the minimum niche dimensionality for resource competition between phytoplankton
Ecol. Lett. 24 (4), 761 - 771 10.1111/ele.13695