Results
We used a trait- and size-structure model to examine (1) if and how a temperature anomaly of a seasonal heatwave can affect plankton communities, (2) how long it takes for the plankton communities to return to their pre-heatwave state in terms of seasonal patterns of the biomass size-bin concertation, diversity and dominant functional groups, and (3) if and how the individual responses of different trophic levels (protists and metazoans) can mitigate potential disturbances of temperature in ecosystem dynamics.