Microbial biogeography of 925 geothermal springs in New Zealand.

ABSTRACT: Geothermal springs are model ecosystems to investigate microbial biogeography as they represent discrete, relatively homogenous habitats, are distributed across multiple geographical scales, span broad geochemical gradients, and have reduced metazoan interactions. Here, we report the largest known consolidated study of geothermal ecosystems to determine factors that influence biogeographical patterns. We measured bacterial and archaeal community composition, 46 physicochemical parameters, and metadata from 925 geothermal springs across New Zealand (13.9-100.6 °C and pH < 1-9.7). We determined that diversity is primarily influenced by pH at temperatures <70 °C; with temperature only having a significant effect for values >70 °C. Further, community dissimilarity increases with geographic dis

SUBMITTER: Power JF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6056493 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature