High functional diversity stimulates diversification in experimental microbial communities

Type Article
Date 2016-06
Language English
Author(s) Jousset Alexandre1, 2, Eisenhauer Nico3, 4, Merker Monika1, Mouquet Nicolas5, 6, Scheu Stefan1
Affiliation(s) 1 : Univ Gottingen, JF Blumenbach Inst Zool & Anthropol, Berliner Str 28, D-37073 Gottingen, Germany.
2 : Univ Utrecht, Inst Environm Biol, Padualaan 8, NL-3584 CH Utrecht, Netherlands.
3 : German Ctr Integrat Biodivers Res iDiv, Deutsch Pl 5e, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany.
4 : Univ Leipzig, Inst Biol, Johannisallee 21, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany.
5 : Univ Montpellier 2, Inst Sci Evolut, CNRS, UMR 5554, CC 065,Pl Eugene Bataillon, F-34095 Montpellier 05, France.
6 : Univ Montpellier, MARBEC, UMR IRD CNRS UM IFREMER 9190, CC 093, FR-34095 Montpellier 5, France.
Source Science Advances (2375-2548) (Amer Assoc Advancement Science), 2016-06 , Vol. 2 , N. 6 , P. e1600124 (8p.)
DOI 10.1126/sciadv.1600124
WOS© Times Cited 38
Abstract

There is a growing awareness that biodiversity not only drives ecosystem services but also affects evolutionary dynamics. However, different theories predict contrasting outcomes on when do evolutionary processes occur within a context of competition. We tested whether functional diversity can explain diversification patterns. We tracked the survival and diversification of a focal bacterial species (Pseudomonas fluorescens) growing in bacterial communities of variable diversity and composition. We found that high functional diversity reduced the fitness of the focal species and, at the same time, fostered its diversification. This pattern was linked to resource competition: High diversity increased competition on a portion of the resources while leaving most underexploited. The evolved phenotypes of the focal species showed a better use of underexploited resources, albeit at a cost of lower overall growth rates. As a result, diversification alleviated the impact of competition on the fitness of the focal species. We conclude that biodiversity can stimulate evolutionary diversification, provided that sufficient alternative niches are available.

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