PA confers fitness advantage over RA in most of the analyzed phase plane and even extends the Hutchinsonian niche under periodic (but not constant) stress.

A. Relative advantage of high-A_RA RA over low-A_RA RA under periodic stress, as a function of source nutrient concentration (N_c) and death rate of unprotected cells (S_L). Color bars represent the ratio between the population sizes at the end of a five day simulations. At low S_L values, the faster growth of the planktonic population compensated for the lower protection, and thus lower A_RA prevails (green zone). At higher S_L values, the formation of protected aggregates compensates for the lower growth rate, and higher A_RA rates result with a higher population size (red zone). B. Relative advantage of PA over RA under periodic stress. Zone a: The optimal PA strategy results with survival while all RA strategies lead to extinction in >80% of repeated simulations. Formation of protected aggregates occur only with PA. Zone b: PA is superior when growth rate is high enough to support the formation protected aggregates. Zone c: At Low N_c and low S_L, PA and RA yield populations that are similar in size. C. Same as in (B) but under constant stress. The Y axis S_L values in (C) were modified so that the overall survival chances of unprotected cells during 24h of stress equal the survival chances during the 12h dry conditions of the periodic stress.