We find that even in two highly symmetric models, outcomes are highly idiosyncratic with more available resources sometimes leading to lower evolved consumer diversity for the same trade-off shape. (3/3)

We develop some new tech to deal with high-dimensional resource space, where consumers’ uptake abilities for different resources are traded off against each other. We then assemble communities for different trade-off shapes and dimensionalities, to find when diverse communities evolve. (2/3)

Our work ties scalings at different levels of organization to one another and to ecological and evolutionary mechanisms. As these scalings have mostly been studied in isolation, our work points the way towards integrated study for testing the interrelation of scalings. 5/5

When parameterized with micro-scaling exponents our model predicts macro-scaling exponents between zooplankton biomass and phytoplankton biomass, and between phytoplankton mean body mass and biomass that agree remarkably well with observed macro scalings. 4/5

We propagate estimates of micro-scaling exponents and their uncertainty through our model predictions into how state variables scale with nutrient enrichment (A). Estimates of micro-scaling exponents from the literature (B). Model-predicted scalings with enrichment (C, D). 3/5

At the individual level, micro scalings relating to cell size determine many traits (F–I). These scaling relationships constrain eco-evolutionary dynamics (E), from which macro-level scaling relationships emerge across environmental gradients (A–D). 2/5