Representative R* species distributions in the initial pool of 300 populations at the lowest (a), intermediate (b) and highest (c) level of complementarity.

<p>Representative R* species distributions in the initial pool of 300 populations at the lowest (a), intermediate (b) and highest (c) level of complementarity.</p

Variability of species richness (number of coexisting species) (a) and evenness (index based on biomasses of co-occurring populations) (b) along a gradient of increasing complementarity in the assemblages and noise in resource concentration from the supply, when the reversal in resource supply concentrations is sudden and gradual.

<p>Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals.</p

Representative phytoplankton population dynamics and ambient resource concentrations when reversals in the resource supply concentrations were sudden (a, c) and gradual (b, d).

<p>In these simulations there was 0–80% noise applied to the resource supply. Values of <i>k</i>_<i>S</i> and <i>Q</i>_<i>S</i> for phytoplankton populations are provided in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0121392#pone.0121392.t003" target="_blank">Table 3</a>.</p

Life history traits (<i>k</i>_<i>s</i> and <i>Q</i>_<i>s</i> for resources S1 and S2) of species from representative simulations shown in Fig. 4.

<p>Life history traits (<i>k</i>_<i>s</i> and <i>Q</i>_<i>s</i> for resources S1 and S2) of species from representative simulations shown in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0121392#pone.0121392.g004" target="_blank">Fig. 4</a>.</p

R*s of phytoplankton in the initial species pool and the recurrently fluctuating environmental conditions from which assemblages self-organized.

<p>R*s of phytoplankton in the initial species pool and the recurrently fluctuating environmental conditions from which assemblages self-organized.</p

Averaged species richness (bars are 95% confidence interval) in the self-organized phytoplankton assemblages (<i>n</i> = 100) for the scenarios where reversals in the resource supply concentrations were sudden (left) and gradual (right), each at the three levels of noise in the resource supply.

<p>Data for richness data are provided as supplementary material (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0121392#pone.0121392.s001" target="_blank">S1 Data</a>).</p

Variability of minimum in Recourse 1 (a) and Resource 2 (b) along a gradient of increasing complementarity in the assemblages and noise in resource concentration from the supply, when the reversal in resource supply concentrations is sudden and gradual.

<p>Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals.</p

Variability of species interactions D_T (a) and R* Distance (b) along a gradient of increasing complementarity in the assemblages and noise in resource concentration from the supply, when the reversal in resource supply concentrations is sudden and gradual.

<p>Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals.</p

R*s of representative self-organized phytoplankton assemblages shown in Fig. 4 where reversals in the resource supply concentrations were sudden (a) and gradual (b).

<p>The numbers on the figure panels coincide with the species keys shown in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0121392#pone.0121392.g004" target="_blank">Fig. 4A, B</a>.</p

Sudden and gradual modes of reversal in the resource supply concentration.

<p>The sudden mode of reversal went from a resource supply of 2 and 20 μM for resources 1 and 2 to a resource supply of 20 and 2 μM with an abrupt transition on day 182. Three levels of noise in the resource supply were explored, which were no noise (a), 0–20% noise (c) and 0–80% noise (e). The gradual mode of reversal also went from a resource supply of 2 and 20 μM for resources 1 and 2 to a resource supply of 20 and 2 μM, but with a slow change that reversed direction on day 182. Again, three levels of noise in the resource supply were explore, which were no noise (b), 0–20% noise (d) and 0–80% noise (f).</p