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Unraveling the Unseen Players in the Ocean - A Field Guide to Water Chemistry and Marine Microbiology
Published on: November 5, 2014
Environment drives high phylogenetic turnover among oceanic bacterial communities
Thomas Pommier1, Emmanuel J P Douzery, David Mouillot
1Université de Lyon, INRA, CNRS, Université Lyon 1, Ecologie Microbienne (UMR 5557, USC 1193), 43 Boulevard du 11 Novembre 1918, 69622 Villeurbanne, France. thomas.pommier@univ-lyon1.fr
Biology Letters
|January 20, 2012
Summary
Environmental filtering, not distance, shapes marine bacterial communities across vast distances. Local environmental factors are key drivers of phylogenetic turnover, indicating a strong lineage filtering process in marine microbial ecosystems.
Area of Science:
- Marine microbiology
- Biogeography
- Ecology
Background:
- Environmental filtering influences marine bacterial biodiversity at regional scales.
- Drivers of biodiversity patterns at large biogeographic scales and higher taxonomic levels remain unclear.
- Phylogenetic turnover (PT) can be low even with different species compositions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the influence of environmental filtering versus geographical distance on phylogenetic turnover in marine bacterial communities.
- To determine the primary drivers structuring marine bacterial communities across large spatial scales and contrasting environments.
Main Methods:
- Comparison of marine bacterial communities from sites over 8000 km apart.
- Analysis of phylogenetic turnover (PT) in relation to environmental factors and geographical distance.
- Assessment of lineage filtering processes.
Main Results:
- Phylogenetic turnover (PT) was high between geographically distant marine bacterial communities.
- Local environmental factors structured PT more than geographical distance.
- Evidence suggests a predominant lineage filtering process.
Conclusions:
- Environmental filtering, specifically local abiotic conditions, is a major driver of marine bacterial community structure at large biogeographic scales.
- Lineage filtering processes can overcome high connectivity in marine microbial communities.
- Phenotype-environment mismatches may play a significant role in shaping marine microbial diversity.
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