Ecological strategies of microbes: Thinking outside the triangle

I asked whether Grime's triangle of competitive, stress tolerance and ruderal ecological strategies-which was originally developed for plants-applies to microbes. I conducted a synthesis of empirical studies that tested relationships among microbial traits presumed to define the competitive, stress tolerance and ruderal, and other ecological strategies. There was broad support for Grime's triangle. However, the ecological strategies were inconsistently linked to shifts in microbial communities under environmental changes like nitrogen and phosphorus addition, warming, drought, etc. We may be missing important ecological strategies that more closely influence microbial community composition under shifting environmental conditions. We may need to start by documenting changes in microbial communities in response to environmental conditions at fine spatiotemporal scales relevant for microbes. We can then develop empirically based ecological strategies, rather than modifying those based on plant ecology. Synthesis. Microbes appear to sort into similar ecological strategies as plants. However, these microbial ecological strategies do not consistently predict how community composition will shift under environmental change. By starting 'from the ground up', we may be able to delineate ecological strategies more relevant for microbes.

Automated summary

This study conducted a synthesis of empirical studies to test the applicability of Grime's triangle of competitive, stress tolerance, and ruderal ecological strategies to microbes. The results showed broad support for the triangle, but inconsistent relationships were found between ecological strategies and shifts in microbial communities under environmental changes. It suggests the need to investigate and develop more relevant ecological strategies for microbes based on fine spatiotemporal scales.