Fluctuation induces evolutionary branching in a modeled microbial ecosystem

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that environmental fluctuations can promote evolutionary branching and coexistence of multiple microbial species through a modeled ecological framework.

Contribution

It introduces a model showing how environmental fluctuation induces speciation and enhances species diversity in microbial ecosystems.

Findings

Environmental fluctuation induces evolutionary branching.

Fluctuation promotes coexistence of multiple species.

Pairwise invasibility analysis illustrates speciation process.

Abstract

The impact of environmental fluctuation on species diversity is studied with a model of the evolutionary ecology of microorganisms. We show that environmental fluctuation induces evolutionary branching and assures the consequential coexistence of multiple species. Pairwise invasibility analysis is applied to illustrate the speciation process. We also discuss how fluctuation affects species diversity.