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Updated: May 26, 2026

Measuring Photophysiology of Attached Stage of Colacium sp. by a Cuvette-Type Fast Repetition Rate Fluorometer
Published on: November 12, 2021
Evidence for a three-way trade-off between nitrogen and phosphorus competitive abilities and cell size in
Kyle F Edwards1, Christopher A Klausmeier, Elena Litchman
1Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan State University, Hickory Corners, Michigan 49060, USA. edwar466@msu.edu
Abstract:
Trade-offs among functional traits are essential for explaining community structure and species coexistence. While two-way trade-offs have been investigated in many systems, higher-dimensional trade-offs remain largely hypothetical. Here we demonstrate a three-way trade-off between cell size and competitive abilities for nitrogen and phosphorus in marine and freshwater phytoplankton. At a given cell size, competitive abilities for N and P are negatively correlated, but as cell size increases, competitive ability decreases for both nutrients. The relative importance of the two trade-off axes appears to be environment dependent, suggesting different selective pressures: freshwater phytoplankton separate more along the N vs. P competition axis, and marine phytoplankton separate more along the nutrient competition vs. cell size axis. Our results demonstrate the multidimensional nature of key trade-offs among traits and suggest that such trade-offs may drive species interactions and structure ecological communities.
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