Modeling the effects of diversity in freshwater microscopic ecosystems

Abstract

Diversity of species plays an important role in the balance of nature. A recent empirical study has shown that the effect of producer (algal species) and decomposer (bacterial species) diversity on the overall productivity of freshwater microscopic ecosystems is more complex than can be attributed to either producer or decomposer diversity alone. It was posited that carbon consumption is the key mechanism that would explain the results of the experiment. In this paper, we test the validity of the model and the role played by the carbon consumption mechanism in silico.