Nectar resources affect bird-dispersed microbial metacommunities in suburban and rural gardens.

ABSTRACT: As cities expand, understanding how urbanization affects biodiversity is a key ecological goal. Yet, little is known about how host-associated microbial diversity responds to urbanization. We asked whether communities of microbial (bacterial and fungal) in floral nectar and sugar-water feeders and vectored by nectar-feeding birds-thus forming a metacommunity-differed in composition and diversity between suburban and rural gardens. Compared to rural birds, we found that suburban birds vectored different and more diverse bacterial communities. These differences were not detected in the nectar of common plant species, suggesting that nectar filters microbial taxa and results in metacommunity convergence. However, when considering all the nectar sources present, suburban beta diversity was ele

SUBMITTER: Donald ML 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10087401 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature