Interplay of ecological processes modulates microbial community reassembly following coalescence.

ABSTRACT: Microbial community coalescence refers to the mixing of entire microbial communities and their environments. Despite conceptually analogous to a multispecies invasion, the ecological processes driving this phenomenon remain poorly understood. Here, we developed and implemented a beta-diversity-based statistical framework to quantify the contribution of distinct donor communities to community reassembly dynamics over time following coalescence. We conducted a microcosm experiment with soils manipulated at varying levels of community structure (via dilution-to-extinction) and subjected these to pairwise coalescence scenarios. Overall, our results revealed variable patterns of abiotic and biotic donor dominance across distinct treatment sets. First, we show the occasional presence of an upfro

SUBMITTER: Bresciani L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11971568 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature