TY - JOUR
T1 - Drivers of bacterial β-diversity depend on spatial scale
AU - Martiny, Jennifer B H
AU - Eisen, Jonathan A
AU - Penn, Kevin
AU - Allison, Steven D.
AU - Horner-Devine, M. Claire
PY - 2011/5/10
Y1 - 2011/5/10
N2 - The factors driving β-diversity (variation in community composition) yield insights into the maintenance of biodiversity on the planet. Here we tested whether the mechanisms that underlie bacterial β-diversity vary over centimeters to continental spatial scales by comparing the composition of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria communities in salt marsh sediments. As observed in studies of macroorganisms, the drivers of salt marsh bacterial β-diversity depend on spatial scale. In contrast to macroorganism studies, however, we found no evidence of evolutionary diversification of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria taxa at the continental scale, despite an overall relationship between geographic distance and community similarity. Our data are consistent with the idea that dispersal limitation at local scales can contribute to β-diversity, even though the 16S rRNA genes of the relatively common taxa are globally distributed. These results highlight the importance of considering multiple spatial scales for understanding microbial biogeography.
AB - The factors driving β-diversity (variation in community composition) yield insights into the maintenance of biodiversity on the planet. Here we tested whether the mechanisms that underlie bacterial β-diversity vary over centimeters to continental spatial scales by comparing the composition of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria communities in salt marsh sediments. As observed in studies of macroorganisms, the drivers of salt marsh bacterial β-diversity depend on spatial scale. In contrast to macroorganism studies, however, we found no evidence of evolutionary diversification of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria taxa at the continental scale, despite an overall relationship between geographic distance and community similarity. Our data are consistent with the idea that dispersal limitation at local scales can contribute to β-diversity, even though the 16S rRNA genes of the relatively common taxa are globally distributed. These results highlight the importance of considering multiple spatial scales for understanding microbial biogeography.
KW - Distance-decay
KW - Ecological drift
KW - Microbial composition
KW - Nitrosomonadales
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U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1016308108
DO - 10.1073/pnas.1016308108
M3 - Article
C2 - 21518859
AN - SCOPUS:79956366900
VL - 108
SP - 7850
EP - 7854
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
SN - 0027-8424
IS - 19
ER -