In their paper entitled “Eco-evolutionary emergence of macroecological scaling in plankton communities”, lead author Jonas Wickman and co-authors Elena Litchman and Chris Klausmeier tackle the fundamental challenge of scaling up the processes governing relationships at the individual level –such as cell volume and size, respiration, or affinity for Nitrogen– to explain patterns at the population, community, and ecosystem levels –e.g., between prey and predator densities, functional traits, or ecosystem function. While often invoked, this individual-to-ecosystems scaling up is rarely achieved in practice. Wickman and collaborators meaningfully accomplished this lofty goal through an eco-evolutionary model whose elegant predictions they tested with empirical data (for good measure!). In showing that meaningful scaling up across levels of biological organization requires accounting for both ecological and evolutionary processes, this paper addresses a long-standing issue in ecology, yields novel testable predictions, and stands out as a beacon that should guide new scientific inquiry by current and future scholars of theoretical ecology.

At a time when our sense of wonder and awe for the natural world seems overshadowed by multiple environmental and societal challenges –both real and manufactured– this paper is a testament to the enduring power of the scientific endeavor, and to our collective ability to continue addressing the most fundamental questions in biology through novel theoretical approaches, despite all odds.

Congratulations!

Wickman et al.. 2024. Eco-evolutionary emergence of macroecological scaling in plankton communities. Science 383,777-782.DOI:10.1126/science.adk6901