An exploration of the impact of phylogenetic tree structure on NTI and βNTI estimates of community assembly.

ABSTRACT: The nearest taxon index (NTI) and beta nearest taxon index (βNTI) are popular metrics used to infer community assembly in a variety of ecosystems. However, the dependence these metrics have on the underlying phylogenetic tree is often overlooked and can potentially lead to erroneous conclusions. In this paper, we investigated how misclassified sequences in the phylogenetic tree and reduction of the metacommunity richness affect estimates of the assembly processes. We estimated assembly processes in two datasets investigating fish-microbiota interactions. We found that non-bacterial misclassified sequences can drastically change the interpretation of assembly processes. NTI consistently increased after misclassified sequences were removed, which changed the ecological interpretation for 82.

SUBMITTER: Gundersen MJS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11461798 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature