Asymmetrical evolution of cross inhibition in zooplankton: Insights from contrasting phosphorus limitation and salinization exposure sequences

Understanding the evolutionary responses of organisms to multiple stressors is crucial for predicting the ecological consequences of intensified anthropogenic activities. While previous studies have documented the effects of selection history on organisms' abilities to cope with new stressors, the impact of the sequence in which stressors occur on evolutionary outcomes remains less understood. In this study, we examined the evolutionary responses of a metazoan rotifer species to two prevalent freshwater stressors: nutrient limitation and increased salinization. We subjected rotifer populations with distinct selection histories (salt-adapted, low phosphorus-adapted, and ancestral clones) to a reciprocal common garden experiment and monitored their population growth rates. Our results revealed an asymmetric evolutionary response to phosphorus (P) limitation and increased salinity. Specifically, adaptation to low P conditions reduced rotifer tolerance to increased salinity, whereas adaptat..., , , # Data from: Asymmetrical evolution of cross inhibition in zooplankton: Insights from contrasting phosphorus limitation and salinization exposure sequences

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.pk0p2ngxs](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.pk0p2ngxs)

**Short description of experiment**:

To test the impact of adaptation to P limitation or increased salinization on rotifer population growth rate when confronting the alternative stressor, we performed a factorial-designed common garden experiment. Specifically, we assigned rotifer populations with different selection histories (SelHist), i.e., LP adapted, salt adapted and ancestral populations, to the combination of 2 food quality treatments (FoodQual: High P and Low P food) and 2 salinity treatments (SAL: High Sline and Low Saline).  For each treatments, we applied 3 clone replictes (Clone) and 3 chemostat replicates (Chem_repl), resulting a total of 108 experimental units. During the experiment, the size of each population were monitored to calcu...,