Robert MacArthur's niche theory makes explicit predictions on how community function should change over time in a competitive community. A key prediction is that succession progressively minimizes the energy wasted by a community, but this minimization is a trade-off between energy losses from unutilised resources and costs of maintenance. By predicting how competition determines community efficiency over time MacArthur's theory may inform on the impacts of disturbance on community function and invasion risk. We provide a rare test of this theory using phytoplankton communities, and find that older communities wasted less energy than younger ones but that the reduction in energy wastage was not monotonic over time. While community structure followed consistent and clear trajectories, community function was more idiosyncratic among adjoining successional stages and driven by total community biomass rather than species composition. Our results suggest that subtle shifts in successional sequence can alter community efficiency and these effects determine community function independently of individual species membership. We conclude that, at least in phytoplankton communities, general trends in community function are predictable over time accordingly to MacArthur's theory. Tests of MacArthur's minimization principle across very different systems should be a priority given the potential of this theory to inform on the functional properties of communities.

中文翻译：

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演替过程中的群落效率：对麦克阿瑟最小化原则在浮游植物群落中的检验

罗伯特麦克阿瑟的利基理论对社区功能如何在竞争社区中随时间变化做出了明确的预测。一个关键的预测是，连续不断地将社区浪费的能量最小化，但这种最小化是未利用资源的能量损失与维护成本之间的权衡。通过预测竞争如何随着时间的推移决定社区效率，麦克阿瑟的理论可以告知干扰对社区功能和入侵风险的影响。我们使用浮游植物群落对这一理论进行了罕见的测试，发现较老的群落比年轻的群落浪费的能量更少，但随着时间的推移，能量浪费的减少并不是单调的。虽然社区结构遵循一致且清晰的轨迹，群落功能在相邻的演替阶段之间更为特殊，并且受群落总生物量而非物种组成的驱动。我们的结果表明，演替顺序的细微变化可以改变群落效率，这些影响独立于单个物种成员资格而决定群落功能。我们得出的结论是，至少在浮游植物群落中，根据麦克阿瑟的理论，群落功能的总体趋势随着时间的推移是可以预测的。考虑到麦克阿瑟最小化原则在不同系统中的测试潜力，应该优先考虑该理论在了解社区的功能特性方面的潜力。我们的结果表明，演替顺序的细微变化可以改变群落效率，这些影响独立于单个物种成员资格而决定群落功能。我们得出的结论是，至少在浮游植物群落中，根据麦克阿瑟的理论，群落功能的总体趋势随着时间的推移是可以预测的。考虑到麦克阿瑟最小化原则在不同系统中的测试潜力，应该优先考虑该理论在了解社区的功能特性方面的潜力。我们的结果表明，演替顺序的细微变化可以改变群落效率，这些影响独立于单个物种成员资格而决定群落功能。我们得出的结论是，至少在浮游植物群落中，根据麦克阿瑟的理论，群落功能的总体趋势随着时间的推移是可以预测的。考虑到麦克阿瑟最小化原则在不同系统中的测试潜力，应该优先考虑该理论在了解社区的功能特性方面的潜力。