Strong Dispersal Limitation of Microbial Communities at Shackleton Glacier, Antarctica

Authors

Nathan P. LeMoine, Marquette UniversityFollow
Byron J. Adams, Brigham Young University
Melisa A. Diaz, The Ohio State University
Nicholas B. Dragone, University of Colorado - Boulder
Andre L.C. Franco, Colorado State University
Noah Fierer, University of Colorado - Boulder
W. Berry Lyons, The Ohio State University
Ian Hogg, Canadian High Arctic Research Station
Diana H. Wall, Colorado State University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2023

Publisher

American Society for Microbiology

Source Publication

mSystems

Source ISSN

2379-5077

Original Item ID

DOI: 10.1128/msystems.01254-22

Abstract

Microbial communities can be structured by both deterministic and stochastic processes, but the relative importance of these processes remains unknown. The ambiguity partly arises from an inability to disentangle soil microbial processes from confounding factors, such as aboveground plant communities or anthropogenic disturbance. In this study, we characterized the relative contributions of determinism and stochasticity to assembly processes of soil bacterial communities across a large environmental gradient of undisturbed Antarctic soils. We hypothesized that harsh soils would impose a strong environmental selection on microbial communities, whereas communities in benign soils would be structured largely by dispersal. Contrary to our expectations, dispersal was the dominant assembly mechanism across the entire soil environmental gradient, including benign environments. The microbial community composition reflects slowly changing soil conditions and dispersal limitation of isolated sites. Thus, stochastic processes, as opposed to deterministic, are primary drivers of soil ecosystem assembly across space at our study site. This is especially surprising given the strong environmental constraints on soil microorganisms in one of the harshest environments on the planet, suggesting that dispersal could be a driving force in microbial community assembly in soils worldwide.

Comments

Accepted version. mSystems, Vol. 8 (2023). DOI. © 2023 American Society for Microbiology. Used with permission.

Recommended Citation

LeMoine, Nathan P.; Adams, Byron J.; Diaz, Melisa A.; Dragone, Nicholas B.; Franco, Andre L.C.; Fierer, Noah; Lyons, W. Berry; Hogg, Ian; and Wall, Diana H., "Strong Dispersal Limitation of Microbial Communities at Shackleton Glacier, Antarctica" (2023). Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications. 955.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/bio_fac/955