Biodiversity Seminar: Phyt to compete: evolutionary responses to resource limitation in phytoplankton

Resource limitation is a major driver of ecological and evolutionary dynamics of all organisms, including phytoplankton. Short-term responses to resource limitation include plastic re-wiring of the molecular and metabolic phenotypes of cells. Less is known about the evolution of resource requirements and the molecular phenotype after longer-term selection by resource limitation. Can competitive abilities adapt to limiting resources? Do requirements for different resources evolve independently or are trade-offs intrinsic? What is the metabolic basis of this evolutionary adaptation? To answer these questions we have employed a variety of approaches, from highly controlled evolution experiments of a single model green alga in chemostats, to outdoor mesocosm experiments exposed to natural climatic and biotic community complexity. I present the results of these various studies and discuss the potential ecological consequences of such evolutionary change on the outcome of competitive community assembly.

Anita Narwani is a group leader at Eawag studying the causes and consequences of phytoplankton biodiversity.
My research aims to determine the mechanisms of species coexistence and the impact of biodiversity on ecosystem properties. I am an empiricist, and I use numerous approaches in my research, spanning the range from careful manipulations of biodiversity in lab microcosms, to whole-ecosystem manipulations and data-synthesis. My curiosity about how species coexist has focused, so far, on how environmental variation in resources and temperature determine the strength and outcome of competition. Recently, I have been investigating how these factors influence species' metabolism, growth and evolution. 
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Our seminars are hybrid. Please send an email to events-biodiversity(at)wsl.ch if you would like to get access to the live stream.

The Biodiversity Seminar Series are organized by the WSL Biodiversity Center. Every two weeks, we aim to host a seminar speaker that presents research or outreach on topics relevant to the biodiversity community at WSL. The seminars are public and are usually broadcasted online.

To find out more about the WSL Biodiversity Center and a complete list of events, please visit our website. 

Please send an email to events-biodiversity(at)wsl.ch if you would like to be updated on the activities of the WSL Biodiversity Center.