- obligate specialist
- facultative specialist
- generalist
- substrate-switching
- acceptor-switching
- trophically mixotrophic
- stage-dependent switching
Operational definition
Capacity descriptor.
The ability of a living system to alter its metabolic operation in response to changing conditions.
Possible dimensions include changing:
- substrates;
- electron donors;
- electron acceptors;
- carbon sources;
- trophic modes;
- pathways;
- allocation priorities;
- storage use;
- metabolic rate.
Flexibility within an individual through regulation or acclimation should be distinguished from evolutionary differences among genotypes or species. Dormancy and reserve use allow organisms to cope with temporal environmental variation, while metabolic flexibility refers more broadly to changing substrates, pathways, or energetic allocation. (PubMed Central (PMC))