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Updated: Jul 2, 2026
08:15
Visualizing Oceanographic Data to Depict Long-term Changes in Phytoplankton
Published on: July 28, 2023
Evolution exacerbates the paradox of the plankton
Noam Shoresh1, Matthew Hegreness, Roy Kishony
1Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Summary
Biodiversity evolution in uniform environments is limited. Introducing evolution to ecological models reveals that long-term dynamics destabilize communities, leading to fewer species than resources due to accelerated resource depletion.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Theoretical Biology
Background:
- The plankton paradox highlights the discrepancy between observed high biodiversity and the competitive exclusion principle.
- Previous models suggested species coexistence is limited by essential resources or non-equilibrium dynamics.
- The impact of evolutionary dynamics on ecological stability and large species consortia remains largely unexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how evolutionary dynamics affect ecologically stable multispecies communities.
- To determine if large species consortia can spontaneously evolve under resource competition.
- To understand the mechanisms limiting biodiversity in evolving ecosystems.
Main Methods:
- Integration of evolutionary dynamics into the standard ecological model of competition for essential resources.
- Utilized a combination of numerical and analytical approaches.
- Examined the role of mutations and trade-offs in resource utilization.
Main Results:
- Ecologically stable communities are destabilized by long-term evolutionary dynamics.
- Spontaneously evolved consortia contain fewer species than available resources.
- Biodiversity limits are not caused by 'superspecies' or alleviated by trade-offs.
Conclusions:
- Evolutionary processes significantly reduce biodiversity in resource-limited environments.
- Accelerated depletion of essential resources drives catastrophic extinctions.
- The study challenges previous assumptions about biodiversity persistence and evolution in uniform environments.
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