title: Five Years of Experimental Warming Increases the Biodiversity and Productivity of Phytoplankton.
abstract: Phytoplankton are key components of aquatic ecosystems, fixing CO2 from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and supporting secondary production, yet relatively little is known about how future global warming might alter their biodiversity and associated ecosystem functioning. Here, we explore how the structure, function, and biodiversity of a planktonic metacommunity was altered after five years of experimental warming. Our outdoor mesocosm experiment was open to natural dispersal from the regional species pool, allowing us to explore the effects of experimental warming in the context of metacommunity dynamics. Warming of 4°C led to a 67% increase in the species richness of the phytoplankton, more evenly-distributed abundance, and higher rates of gross primary productivity. Warming elevated productivity indirectly, by increasing the biodiversity and biomass of the local phytoplankton communities. Warming also systematically shifted the taxonomic and functional trait composition of the phytoplankton, favoring large, colonial, inedible phytoplankton taxa, suggesting stronger top-down control, mediated by zooplankton grazing played an important role. Overall, our findings suggest that temperature can modulate species coexistence, and through such mechanisms, global warming could, in some cases, increase the species richness and productivity of phytoplankton communities.
authors.affiliation: Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, United Kingdom.|School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yvon-Durocher
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Andrew P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.affiliation: Bi-Eau, Angers, France.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cellamare
authors.affiliation: School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dossena
authors.affiliation: Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Kevin J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Gaston
authors.affiliation: Bi-Eau, Angers, France.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leitao
authors.affiliation: Ecological Networks and Global Change Group, CNRS Station Experimentale du Moulis, Moulis, France.|CREAF, Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain.
authors.forename: José M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Montoya
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Kansas Biological Survey, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, United States of America.|Laboratory of Populations, Rockefeller University, New York, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Daniel C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Reuman
authors.affiliation: School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom.|Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, Berkshire, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Guy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Woodward
authors.affiliation: School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trimmer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017756:Aquaculture; D044822:Biodiversity; D057231:Climate Change; D004739:England; D006358:Hot Temperature / Q000009:adverse effects; D008954:Models, Biological; D010839:Phytoplankton / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D012621:Seasons; D015854:Up-Regulation; D015048:Zooplankton / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification