Microbial activity is a fundamental component of oceanic nutrient cycles. Photosynthetic
microbes, collectively termed phytoplankton, are responsible for the vast majority of primary …

Whether a small cell, a small genome or a minimal set of chemical reactions with self-
replicating properties, simplicity is beguiling. As Leonardo da Vinci reportedly said,'simplicity …

Phytoplankton size structure controls the trophic organization of planktonic communities and
their ability to export biogenic materials toward the ocean's interior. Our understanding of the …

Zooplankton are major primary consumers and predators in most aquatic ecosystems. They
exhibit tremendous diversity of traits, ecological strategies and, consequently, impacts on …

Trait-based approaches are increasingly used in ecology. Phytoplankton communities, with
a rich history as model systems in community ecology, are ideally suited for applying and …

Zooplankton is a morphologically and taxonomically diverse group and includes organisms
that vary in size by many orders of magnitude, but they are all faced with the common …

Phytoplankton are key players in the global carbon cycle, contributing about half of global
primary productivity. Within the phytoplankton, functional groups (characterized by distinct …

In addition to answering Hutchinson's question “Why are there so many species?”, we need
to understand why certain species are found only under certain environmental conditions …

In aquatic ecosystems, unicellular algae form the basis of the food webs. Theoretical and
experimental studies have demonstrated that one of the mechanisms that maintain high …

Trait-based ecology merges evolutionary with classical population and community ecology
and is a rapidly developing branch of ecology. It describes ecosystems as consisting of …