Trade-offs between microbiome diversity and productivity in a stratified microbial mat.

ABSTRACT: Productivity is a major determinant of ecosystem diversity. Microbial ecosystems are the most diverse on the planet yet very few relationships between diversity and productivity have been reported as compared with macro-ecological studies. Here we evaluated the spatial relationships of productivity and microbiome diversity in a laboratory-cultivated photosynthetic mat. The goal was to determine how spatial diversification of microorganisms drives localized carbon and energy acquisition rates. We measured sub-millimeter depth profiles of net primary productivity and gross oxygenic photosynthesis in the context of the localized microenvironment and community structure, and observed negative correlations between species richness and productivity within the energy-replete, photic zone. Variati

SUBMITTER: Bernstein HC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5270574 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature