Microbial Community Cohesion Mediates Community Turnover in Unperturbed Aquifers

Abstract

Many microbial ecology studies have examined community structuring processes in dynamic or perturbed situations, while stable environments have been investigated to a lesser extent. Researchers have predicted that environmental communities never truly reach a steady state but rather exist in states of constant flux due to internal, rather than external, dynamics. The research presented here utilized a combined null model approach to examine the deterministic and stochastic processes responsible for observed community differences in unperturbed, groundwater ecosystems. Additionally, internal dynamics were investigated by relating a recently published measure of community complexity (cohesion) to ecological structuring processes. The data presented here suggest that communities that are more cohesive, and therefore more complex, are more likely affected by homogenizing selection, while less-complex communities are more susceptible to dispersal. By understanding the relationship between internal dynamics and community structuring processes, insight about microbial population development in natural systems can be obtained.