Trait-based community ecology

We've been developing trait-based approaches to phytoplankton and other microbes using theory, experiments, and data compilation and analyses. Here are some of our representative publications on trait-based analyses.

Litchman E, KF Edwards and PW Boyd. 2021. Towards trait-based food webs: universal traits and trait matching in planktonic predator-prey and host-parasite relationships. Limnology and Oceanography, doi.org/10.1002/lno.11924.

Guittar J, T Koffel, A Shade, CA Klausmeier and E Litchman. 2021. Resource competition and host feedbacks underlie regime shifts in gut microbiota. American Naturalist 198: 1-12.

Ryabov A, O, Kerimoglu, E Litchman, I Olenina, L Roselli, A Basset, E Stanca and B Blasius. 2021. Shape matters: the relationship between cell geometry and diversity in phytoplankton. Ecology Letters 24: 847-861.

Westoby M, DA Nielsen, MR Gillings, E Litchman, JS Madin, IT Paulsen and SG Tetu. 2021. Cell size, genome size and maximum growth rate are near-independent dimensions of ecological variation across bacteria and archaea. Ecology and Evolution 11: 3956–3976.

Madin JS et al. 2020. A synthesis of bacterial and archaeal phenotypic trait data. Nature Scientific Data, 7: 1-8.

Guittar J, A Shade and E Litchman. 2019. Trait-based succession and community assembly of the infant gut microbiome. Nature Communications 10: 512.

Edwards KF, CT Kremer, ET Miller, MM Osmond, E Litchman and CA Klausmeier. 2018. Evolutionarily stable communities: a framework for understanding the role of trait evolution in the maintenance of diversity. Ecology Letters 21: 1853-1868.

Meunier CL, M Boersma, R El-Sabaawi, H Halvorson, EM Herstoff, DB Van de Waal, RJ Vogt and E Litchman. 2017. From elements to function: toward unifying ecological stoichiometry and trait-based ecology. Frontiers in Environmental Science. doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2017.00018.

Kremer CT, MK Thomas and E Litchman. 2017. Scaling of phytoplankton growth rate with temperature and size: reconciling the Eppley curve and metabolic theory of ecology framework. Limnology and Oceanography 62: 1658-1670.

Roselli L, E Litchman, E Stanca, F Cozzoli and A Basset. 2017. Individual trait variation in phytoplankton communities across multiple spatial scales. Journal of Plankton Research 39: 577-588.

Edwards KF, MK Thomas, CA Klausmeier and E Litchman. 2016. Phytoplankton growth and the interaction of light and temperature: a synthesis at the species and community level. Limnology and Oceanography 61: 1232–1244.

Thomas MK, CT Kremer and E Litchman. 2016. Environment and evolutionary history determine the global biogeography of phytoplankton temperature traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography 25: 75-86.

Litchman E, P de Tezanos Pinto, KF Edwards, CT Kremer, CA Klausmeier, MK Thomas. 2015. Global biogeochemical impacts of phytoplankton: a trait-based perspective. Journal of Ecology 103: 1384-1396.

Litchman E, KF Edwards and CA Klausmeier. 2015. Microbial resource utilization traits and trade-offs: implications for community structure, functioning and biogeochemical impacts at present and in the future. Frontiers in Microbiology 6: 254. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.00254.

Edwards, KF, CA Klausmeier and E Litchman. 2015. Nutrient utilization traits in phytoplankton. Data paper. Ecology96: 2311.

Edwards KF, MK Thomas, CA Klausmeier and E Litchman. 2015. Light and growth in marine phytoplankton: allometric, taxonomic, and environmental variation. Limnology and Oceanography 60: 540-552.

Nalley JO, M Stockenreiter and E Litchman. 2014. Community ecology of algal biofuels: complementarity and trait-based approaches. Industrial Biotechnology 10: 191-201.

Edwards KF, CA Klausmeier and E Litchman. 2013. A three-way tradeoff maintains functional diversity under variable resource supply. American Naturalist 182: 786-800.

Edwards KF, E Litchman and CA Klausmeier. 2013. Functional traits predict variation in phytoplankton community structure across lakes of the United States. Ecology 94: 1626–1635.

Litchman E, MD Ohman and T Kiørboe. 2013. Trait-based approaches to zooplankton communities. Journal of Plankton Research. Horizons paper. 35: 473-484.

Barton AD, AJ Pershing, E Litchman, NR Record, KF Edwards, ZV Finkel, T Kiørboe and BA Ward. 2013. The biogeography of marine plankton traits. Ecology Letters 16: 522-534.

Edwards KF, E Litchman and CA Klausmeier. 2013. Functional traits explain phytoplankton community structure and seasonal dynamics in a marine ecosystem. Ecology Letters 16: 56-63.

Litchman E, KF Edwards, CA Klausmeier and MK Thomas. 2012. Phytoplankton niches, traits and eco-evolutionary responses to global environmental change. Theme section on Biological responses in an anthropogenically modified ocean. Marine Ecology Progress Series 470: 235-248.

Thomas MK, CT Kremer, CA Klausmeier and E Litchman. 2012. A global pattern of thermal adaptation in marine phytoplankton. Science 338: 1085-1088.

Edwards KF, MK Thomas, CA Klausmeier and E Litchman. 2012. Allometric scaling and taxonomic variation in nutrient utilization traits and growth rates of marine and freshwater phytoplankton. Limnology and Oceanography 57: 554-566.

Edwards KF, CA Klausmeier and E Litchman. 2011. Evidence for a three-way tradeoff between nitrogen and phosphorus competitive abilities and cell size in phytoplankton. Ecology 92: 2085-2095.

Schwaderer AS, K Yoshiyama, P de Tezanos Pinto, NG Swenson, CA Klausmeier and E Litchman. 2011. Eco-evolutionary differences in light utilization traits and distributions of freshwater phytoplankton. Limnology and Oceanography 56: 589-598. Highlighted in Faculty of 1000.

Litchman E, P de Tezanos Pinto, CA Klausmeier, MK Thomas and K Yoshiyama. 2010. Linking traits to species diversity and community structure in phytoplankton. Invited review. Hydrobiologia 653: 15-38.

Litchman E and CA Klausmeier. 2008. Trait-based community ecology of phytoplankton. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 39: 615-639.

Litchman E, CA Klausmeier, OM Schofield and PG Falkowski. 2007. The role of functional traits and trade-offs in structuring phytoplankton communities: scaling from cellular to ecosystem level. Ecology Letters 10: 1170-1181.

Litchman E, CA Klausmeier, JR Miller, OM Schofield and PG Falkowski. 2006. Multi-nutrient, multi-group model of present and future oceanic phytoplankton communities. Biogeosciences 3: 585-606.