Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 16, 2026

Microbiota of Attine Ants' Gardens: Visualizing a Microbial Landscape by Scanning Electron Microscopy
Published on: October 4, 2024
Evolution of the indoor biome
, Laura J Martin1, Rachel I Adams2
1Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
Abstract:
Few biologists have studied the evolutionary processes at work in indoor environments. Yet indoor environments comprise approximately 0.5% of ice-free land area--an area as large as the subtropical coniferous forest biome. Here we review the emerging subfield of 'indoor biome' studies. After defining the indoor biome and tracing its deep history, we discuss some of its evolutionary dimensions. We restrict our examples to the species found in human houses--a subset of the environments constituting the indoor biome--and offer preliminary hypotheses to advance the study of indoor evolution. Studies of the indoor biome are situated at the intersection of evolutionary ecology, anthropology, architecture, and human ecology and are well suited for citizen science projects, public outreach, and large-scale international collaborations.
More Related Videos
08:11Author Spotlight: Understanding Microbe Adaptation Using Innovative Techniques for Exploring Thermophilic Evolution
Published on: June 14, 2024
15:00Daily Transfers, Archiving Populations, and Measuring Fitness in the Long-Term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli
Published on: August 18, 2023
Related Concept Videos
Evolution of New Traits in Microbes
The Colonization of Land
The Evidence for Evolution
Evolution of Microbial Genome
What is Evolutionary History?
Microenvironments