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DynaTrait

Our aims are to advance ecological theory providing a basis for improved management practices to mitigate the consequences of environmental change and biodiversity loss, and to stimulate other disciplines such as cell biology, social science or transportation that make also use of network science. DynaTrait moves away from the classical static species-based approach (where rigid properties are assigned to each organism or species independent of ambient conditions), to an innovative, flexible, trait-based approach. It explicitly considers functional traits which are measurable properties (e.g. edibility of prey, selectivity of consumers) that may change over time depending on the prevailing conditions. We aspire an intensive, mutually stimulating interplay between experimental approaches, field measurements and mathematical modelling using mostly plankton and biofilms as empirical model systems. These microbial food webs comprise multiple trophic levels with internal feedbacks and their small size and short generation times enables measuring and manipulating trait variations and estimating the major trade-off(s) among traits. Population dynamics can be quantified for many generations which reveals the effect of eco-evolutionary feedbacks within feasible time scales. We want to broaden our very limited quantitative knowledge and predictive power on how biodiversity affects the type of ecological dynamics (e.g. static or oscillating) and responses to environmental changes.

The picture shows the logo of the project Dynatrait

Publications

Project-related publications from DynaTrait members:

2023

Adje G, Wojcik LA & Gaedke U (2023). Functional diversity increases the resistance of a tritrophic food web to environmental changes. Theor Ecol. 16: 131-150. doi: 10.1007/s12080-023-00558-0

de la Cruz Barron M, van Velzen E, Klümper U, Weitere M, Berendonk TU & Kneis D (2023). Shifts from cooperative to individual-based predation defense determine microbial predator-prey dynamics. The ISME Journal. 17:775–785. doi: 10.1038/s41396-023-01381-5

Hattich GSI, Listmann L, Havenhand J, Reusch TBH, Matthiessen B (2023). Temporal variation in ecological and evolutionary contributions to phytoplankton functional shifts. Limnology and Oceanography. 68: 297-306. doi: 10.1002/lno.12267

Ilić M, Walden S, Hammerstein SK, Stockenreiter M, Stibor H, Fink P (2023). Pigment and fluorescence proxies to estimate functional diversity  of phytoplankton communities. Fundamental and Applied Limnology (in press). 

Li X, Klauschies T, Yang W, Yang Z & Gaedke U (2023). Trait adaptation enhances species coexistence and reduces bistability in an intraguild predation module. Ecol. Evol. 13:e9749. doi: 10.1002/ece3.9749

van Velzen E and Gaedke U (2023). Back to the drawing board: re-thinking growth-defense trade-offs. Oikos. 2023:e09918. doi: 10.1111/oik.09918

2022

Ehrlich E, Thygesen UH, Kiørboe T (2022). Evolution of toxins as a public good in phytoplankton. Proc. R. Soc. B. 289:20220393. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2022.0393

Hamer J, Matthiessen B, Pulina S, Hattich GSI (2022). Maintenance of Intraspecific Diversity in Response to Species Competition and Nutrient Fluctuations. Microorganisms. 10(1):113. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms10010113

Hattich GSI, Listmann L, Havenhand J, Reusch TBH, Matthiessen B (2022). Temporal variation in ecological and evolutionary contributions to phytoplankton functional shifts. Limnology and Oceanography. 68(2):297-306. doi: 10.1002/lno.12267

Hermann RJ, Becks (2022). Change in prey genotype frequency rescues predator from extinction. R. Soc. Open Sci. 9:220211. 220211. doi: 10.1098/rsos.220211

Kath NJ, Gaedke U, van Velzen E (2022). The double‑edged sword of inducible defences: costs and benefits of maladaptive switching from the individual to the community level. Scientific Reports. 12:10344. doi:10.1038/s41598-022-13895-7

Klauschies T, Isanta-Navarro J (2022). The joint effects of salt and 6PPD contamination on a freshwater herbivore. Science of the Total Environment. 829: 154675. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154675

Isanta Navarro J, Klauschies T, Wacker A, Martin-Creuzburg D (2022). A sterol-mediated gleaner-opportunist trade-off underlies the evolution of grazer resistance to cyanobacteria. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 289:20220178. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2022.0178

Titocci J, Bon M, Fink P (2022). Morpho-functional traits reveal differences in size fractionated phytoplankton communities but do not significantly affect zooplankton grazing. Microorganisms. 10(1):182. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms10010182

Titocci J, Fink P (2022). Food quality impacts on reproductive traits, development and fatty acid composition of the freshwater calanoid copepod Eudiaptomus sp. Journal of Plankton Research. 44(4): 528–541. doi: 10.1093/plankt/fbac030

Thongthaisong P, Kasada M, Grossart H-P, Wollrab S (preprint) Critical role of parasite-mediated trophic interactions for energy flow and community dynamics. Authorea. (pre print). doi: 10.22541/au.165242164.42085715/v1

Van Velzen E,  Gaedke U, Klauschies T (2022). Quantifying the capacity for contemporary trait changes to drive intermittent predator-prey cycles. Ecol. Monogr. 92(2): e1505. doi: 10.1002/ecm.1505

Villalba LA, Karnatak R, Grossart HP, Wollrab S (2022). Flexible habitat choice of pelagic bacteria increases system stability and energy flow through the microbial loop.  Limnol. Oceanogr. 67: 1402-1415. doi: 10.1002/lno.12091

2021

Bernardes JP, John U, Woltermann N, Valiadi M, Hermann R, Becks L (2021). The evolution of convex trade-offs enables the transition towards multicellularity. Nature Communications. 12:4222. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-24503-z

Ceulemans R, Guill C, Gaedke U (2021). Top predators govern multitrophic diversity effects in tritrophic food webs. Ecology. 102(7): e03379. doi: 10.1002/ecy.3379

Charalampous E, Matthiessen B, Sommer U (2021). Grazing induced shifts in phytoplankton cell size explain the community response to nutrient supply. Microorganisms. 9(12):2440. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms9122440

Flöder S,  Yong J, Klauschies T, Gaedke U, Brinkhoff T, Poprick T, Moorthi S (2021). Intraspecific Trait Variation Alters the Outcome of Competition in Freshwater Ciliates. Ecol. Evol. 11: 10225–10243. doi: 10.1002/ece3.7828

Gerhard M, Mori C, Striebel M (2021). Nonrandom species loss in phytoplankton communities and its effect on ecosystem functioning. Limnology and Oceanography. 66(3): 779-792. doi: 10.1002/lno.11642

Groß E, Boersma M, Meunier CL (2021). Environmental impacts on single-cell variation within a ubiquitous diatom: The role of growth rate. PLoS ONE. 16(5): e0251213. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251213

Grossart HP, Hassan EA, Masigol H, Arias-Andres M, Rojas-Jimenez K (2021). Inland Water Fungi in the Anthropocene: Current and Future Perspectives. Encyclopedia of Inland Waters, 2nd edition. 4:667-684. doi: 10.1016/b978-0-12-819166-8.00025-6

Hattich GSI, Listmann L, Govaert L, Pansch C, Reusch TBH, Matthiessen B (2021). Experimentally decomposing phytoplankton community change into ecological and evolutionary contributions, Functional Ecology. 36(1):120-132 . doi: 10.1111/1365-2435.13923

Herstoff EM, Meunier CL, Boersma M, Baines SB (2021). Leveraging differences in multiple prey traits allows selective copepods to meet their threshold elemental ratios. Limnology and Oceanography. 66(7):2914-2922. doi: 10.1002/lno.11800

Hillebrand H, Acevedo Trejos E, Moorthi SD, Ryabov A, Striebel A, Thomas P, Schneider M-L (2021). Cell size as driver and sentinel of phytoplankton community structure and functioning. Functional Ecology. 36: 276–293. doi: 10.1111/1365-2435.13986

Ilic M, Cordellier M, Fink P (2021). Intrapopulation variability in a functional trait: Susceptibility of Daphnia to limitation by dietary fatty acids. Freshwater Biology. 66 (1): 130-141. doi: 10.1111/fwb.13623

Klawonn I, Van den Wyngaert S, Parada AE, Arandia-Gorostidi N, Whitehouse MJ, Grossart HP,  Dekas AE (2021). Characterizing the “fungal shunt”: Parasitic fungi on diatoms affect carbon flow and bacterial communities in aquatic microbial food webs. PNAS. 118 (23)::e2102225118. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2102225118 

Li X, Yang W, Gaedke U, de Ruiter PC (2021). Energetic constraints imposed on trophic interaction strengths enhance resilience in empirical and model food webs. J. Animal Ecol. 90: 2065-2076. doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.13499

Rojas-Jimenez K, Araya-Lobo A, Quesada-Perez F, Akerman-Sanchez J, Delgado-Duran B, Ganzert L, Zavialov PO, Alymkulov S, Kirillin G, Grossart HP (2021). Variation of bacterial communities along the vertical gradient in Lake Issyk Kul, Kyrgyzstan. Environ. Microbiol. R. 13(3):337–347. doi: 10.1111/1758-2229.12935

Ryabov A, Kerimoglu O, Litchman E, Olenina I, Roselli L, Basset A, Stanca E, Blasius B (2021). Shape matters: the relationship between cell geometry and diversity in phytoplankton. Ecology Letters. 24: 847-61. doi: 10.1101/2020.02.06.937219

Stockenreiter M, Isanta Navarro J, Buchberger F, Stibor H (2021). Community shifts from eukaryote to cyanobacteria dominated phytoplankton: The role of mixing depth and light quality. Freshwater Biology. 66(11): 2145-2157. doi: 10.1111/fwb.13822

Wan W, HP Grossart, D He, W Yuan,  Y Yang (2021). Stronger environmental adaptation of rare rather than abundant bacterioplankton in response to dredging in eutrophic Lake Nanhu (Wuhan, China). Water Research. 190:116751. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2020.116751

Wojcik LA, Ceulemans R, Gaedke U (2021). Functional diversity buffers the effects of a pulse perturbation on the dynamics of tritrophic food webs. Ecol. & Evol. 11: 15639–15663. doi: 10.1002/ece3.8214

2020

Blasius B, Rudolf L, Weithoff G, Gaedke U, Fussmann G (2020). Long-term cyclic persistence in an experimental predator-prey system. Nature. 577: 226-230. doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1857-0

Buchberger F, Stibor H, Neusius D, Nickelsen J, Stockenreiter M (2020). Transgenic and cell wall-deficient Chlamydomonas reinhardtii food affects life history of Daphnia magna. Journal of Applied Phycology. 32 (1): 319-328. doi: 10.1007/s10811-019-01983-7

Burberg C, Petzoldt T, von Elert E (2020). Phosphate limitation increases content of protease inhibitors in the cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosaToxins. 12: 33. doi: 10.3390/toxins12010033

Chien C-T, Pahlow M, Schartau M, Oschlies A (2020). Optimality-based non-Redfield plankton–ecosystem model (OPEM v1.1) in UVic-ESCM 2.9 – Part 2: Sensitivity analysis and model calibration. Geoscientific Model Development. 13: 4691-4712. doi: 10.5194/gmd-13-4691-2020

Ehrlich E, Gaedke U (2020). Coupled changes in traits and biomasses cascading through a tritrophic plankton food web. Limnology and Oceanography. 65: 2502-2514. doi: 10.1002/lno.11466

Ehrlich E, Kath NJ, Gaedke U (2020). The shape of a defense-growth trade-off governs seasonal trait dynamics in natural phytoplankton. ISME Journal. 14: 1451–1462. doi: 10.1038/s41396-020-0619-1

Frank F, Danger M, Hillebrand H, Striebel M (2020). Stoichiometric constraints on phytoplankton resource use efficiency in monocultures and mixtures. Limnology and Oceanography. 65(8):1734-1746. doi: 10.1002/lno.11415

Grossart HP, Massana R, McMahon KD, Walsh DA (2020). Linking metagenomics to aquatic microbial ecology and biogeochemical cycles. Limnol. Oceanogr. 65:S2-S20. doi: 10.1002/lno.11382

Grossart HP, Van den Wyngaert S, Kagami M, Wurzbacher C, Cunliffe M, Rojas-Jimenez K (2020). Pilze in aquatischen Ökosystemen. doi:10.1002/9783527678488.hbal2019002

Ilić M, Cordellier M, Fink P (2020). Intrapopulation variability in a functional trait: Susceptibility of Daphnia to limitation by dietary fatty acids. Freshwater Biology. 66:130–141. doi: 10.1111/fwb.13623

Klauschies T, Gaedke U (2020). Nutrient retention by predators undermines predator coexistence on one prey. Theoret Ecol. 13:183-208. doi: 10.1101/535195

Listmann L, Hattich GSI, Matthiessen B, Reusch TBH (2020). Eco-evolutionary coupling within a two-species phytoplankton community driven by experimental selection. Frontiers in Marine Science. 7:634. doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.00634

Listmann L, Hattich GSI, Matthiessen B, Reusch TBH (2020). Eco-evolutionary interaction in competing phytoplankton: nutrient driven genotype sorting likely explains dominance shift and species responses to CO2. Frontiers in Marine Science. 7: 634. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2020.00634

Mi C, Shatwell T, Ma J, Wentzky VC, Boehrer B, Xu Y, Rinke K (2020). The formation of a metalimnetic oxygen minimum exemplifies how ecosystem dynamics shape biogeochemical processes: A modelling study. Water Research. 175: 115701. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2020.115701

Pahlow M, Chien C-T, Arteaga LA, Oschlies A (2020). Optimality-based non-Redfield plankton–ecosystem model (OPEM v1.1) in UVic-ESCM 2.9 – Part 1: Implementation and model behaviour. Geoscientific Model Development. 13: 4663-4690. doi: 10.5194/gmd-13-4663-2020

Schaelicke S, Heim S, Martin-Creuzburg D, Wacker A (2020). Inter- and intraspecific differences in rotifer fatty acid composition during acclimation to low quality food. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. 375(1804): 20190644. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0644

Trogant S, Becker K, Schweinsberg M, Ioannidou I, Tollrian R, Weiss LC (2020). Simple morphology-based species identification in Euplotes spp. Fundam. Appl. Limnol. / Arch. Hydrobiol. 193: 205 - 211. doi: 10.1127/fal/2020/1220

Van Velzen E (2020). Predator coexistence through emergent fitness equalization. Ecology. 101(5): e02995. doi: 10.1002/ecy.2995

Weitere M, Brauns M, Rinke K, Borchardt D, Wentzky V (2020). Wasserqualität und Biodiversität: eine enge wechselseitige Beziehung. - In: Spreen D, Kandarr J (Eds.), Biodiversität im Meer und an Land. Vom Wert biologischer Vielfalt, Potsdam : Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum GFZ, 54-57. doi: 10.2312/eskp.2020.1.2.4

Wentzky VC, Tittel J, Jäger CG, Bruggeman J, Rinke K (2020). Seasonal succession of functional traits in phytoplankton communities and their interaction with trophic state. Journal of Ecology. 108(4): 1649-1663. doi: 10.1111/1365-2745.13395

2019

Burberg C, Ilić M, Petzoldt T, von Elert E (2019). Nitrate determines growth and protease inhibitor content of the cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosaJ Appl Phycol. 31:1697-1707. doi: 10.1007/s10811-018-1674-0

Carey JC, Jankowski K, Julian PI, Sethna LR, Thomas PK, Rohweder J (2019). Exploring silica stoichiometry on a large floodplain riverscape. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 7: 346. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00346

Ceulemans R, Gaedke U, Klauschies T, Guill C (2019). The effects of functional diversity on biomass production, variability, and resilience of ecosystem functions in a tritrophic system. Sci Rep. 9: 7541. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-43974-1

Gerhard M, Koussoroplis AM, Hillebrand H, Striebel M (2019). Phytoplankton community responses to temperature fluctuations under different nutrient concentrations and stoichiometry. Ecology. 100(11):1–11. doi: 10.1002/ecy.2834

Grossart HP, Van den Wyngaert S, Kagami M, Wurzbacher C, Cunliffe M, Rojas-Jimenez K (2019). Fungi in aquatic ecosystems. Nature Reviews Microbiology. 17 (6): 339-354. doi: 10.1038/s41579-019-017

Hodapp D, Hillebrand H, Striebel M (2019). “Unifying” the concept of resource use efficiency in ecology. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 6:233. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2018.00233

Ilić M, Werner C, Fink P (2019). Equal relevance of omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids for the fitness of Daphnia spp. Limnology and Oceanography. 64 (6): 2512-2525. doi:10.1002/lno.11201

Mi C, Sadeghian A, Lindenschmidt K-E, Rinke K (2019). Variable withdrawal elevations as a management tool to counter the effects of climate warming in Germany's largest drinking water reservoir. Environmental Sciences Europe. 31:19. doi: 10.1186/s12302-019-0202-4

Prowe AEF, Visser AW, Andersen KH, Chiba S, Kiørboe T (2019). Biogeography of zooplankton feeding strategy. Limnology and Oceanography. 64: 661-678. doi:10.1002/lno.11067

Raatz M, van Velzen E, Gaedke U (2019). Co-adaptation impacts robustness of predator-prey dynamics against perturbations. Ecol. Evol. 9: 3823-3836. doi: 10.1002/ece3.5006

Rosenbaum B, Raatz M, Fussmann GF, Weithoff G, Gaedke U (2019). Estimating parameters from multiple time series of population dynamics using Bayesian inference. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 6: 234. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2018.00234

Schaelicke S,  Teubner J, Martin-Creuzburg D, Wacker A (2019). Fitness response variation within and among consumer species can be co-mediated by food quantity and biochemical quality. Scientific Reports. 9:16126. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-52538-2

Schaelicke S, Sobisch L-Y, Martin-Creuzburg D, Wacker A (2019). Food quantity-quality co-limitation: Interactive effects of dietary carbon and essential lipid supply on population growth of a freshwater rotifer. Freshwater Biology. 64(5): 903-912. doi: 10.1111/fwb.13272

Stockenreiter M, Litchman E (2019). Nitrogen-fixer enhances lipid yields in algal polycultures. Algal Research. 44:101676. doi: 10.1016/j.algal.2019.101676

Trommer G, Lorenz P, Lentz A, Fink P, Stibor H (2019). Nitrogen enrichment leads to changing fatty acid composition in phytoplankton and negatively affects zooplankton in a lake community. Sci Rep. 9:16805. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-53250-x

Weyhenmeyer GA, ...Wentzky V,... , Flaim G (2019). Widespread diminishing anthropogenic effects on calcium in freshwaters. Scientific reports. 9(1): 1-10. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-46838-w

Wentzky VC, Frassl MA, Rinke K, Boehrer B (2019). Metalimnetic oxygen minimum and the presence of Planktothrix rubescens in a low-nutrient drinking water reservoir. Water research. 148: 208-218. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2018.10.047

Windisch HS, Fink P (2019). Transcriptome sequencing of a keystone aquatic herbivore yields insights on the temperature-dependent metabolism of essential lipids. BMC Genomics. 20: 894. doi: 10.1186/s12864-019-6268-y

Yamamichi M, Klauschies T, Miner BE, van Velzen E (2019). Modelling inducible defences in predator–prey interactions: assumptions and dynamical consequences of three distinct approaches. Ecology Letters. 22(2):390-404. doi: 10.1111/ele.13183.