Pseudomonas demonstrates buffering by biodiversity

“New and Noted” in PLoS ONE

Niche Occupation Limits Adaptive Radiation in Experimental Microcosms
Brockhurst MA, Colegrave N, Hodgson DJ, Buckling A (2007) PLoS ONE 2(2): e193. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000193

Observing micro-organisms in controlled environments can be a powerful approach to testing evolutionary and ecological theories. This study uses the bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens to explore how the diversity of communities affects the spread of invading species. The more ecological niches that were occupied, the slower the invasions identifying biodiversity as a major damper of ecological change.