Phylogenetic beta diversity in bacterial assemblages across ecosystems: deterministic versus stochastic processes

Increasing evidence has emerged for non-random spatial distributions of microbes, but knowledge of the processes that cause variation in microbial assemblage among ecosystems is lacking. For instance, some studies showed that deterministic processes such as habitat specialization are important, while other studies hold that bacterial communities are assembled by stochastic forces. Here we examine the relative influence of deterministic and stochastic processes for bacterial communities from subsurface environments, stream biofilm, lake water, lake sediment and soil using pyrosequencing of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene. We show that there is a general pattern in phylogenetic signal in species ecological niches…

• NS
  National Science Foundation
• NN
  National Natural Science Foundation of China

  Awards: 41030211, 41271468
• YI
  Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
• SK
  State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment
• NI
  Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

  Award: NIGLAS2012135004
• NK
  National Key Research and Development Program of China

  Award: 2012CB956100
• YI
  Youth Innovation Promotion Association
• PN
  Pacific Northwest National Laboratory