BEIJING, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Researchers have disclosed that phytoplankton diversity can promote nutrient resource use efficiency in aquatic ecosystems.

The nitrogen and phosphorous uptake and removal by phytoplankton is a fundamental function provided by aquatic ecosystems, while how the phytoplankton diversity influences the nutrients uptake is still unclear.

The researchers from the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences worked together with institutes of Japan and Britain as well as China's Taiwan to examine the causal relations between phytoplankton functional diversity and nutrient resource use efficiency based on monthly data from the marine and freshwater ecosystems.

They used Convergent Cross Mapping method and found that the phytoplankton diversity remarkably enhanced the nutrient utilization efficiency including nitrogen and phosphorous, no matter for fresh water or seawater ecosystem.

The results suggested that a good phytoplankton community with high functional diversity can provide better ability for water purification, according to the research paper published on Journal of Ecology.

The research is helpful for developing nature-based solutions for aquatic ecosystem restoration. And its findings can improve peoples' understanding on trophic transfer and nutrient cycling in aquatic ecosystems.