Experimental Evidence that Stochasticity Contributes to Bacterial Composition and Functioning in a Decomposer Community.

ABSTRACT: Stochasticity emerging from random differences in replication, death, mutation, and dispersal is thought to alter the composition of ecological communities. However, the importance of stochastic effects remains somewhat speculative because stochasticity is not directly measured but is instead inferred from unexplained variations in beta-diversity. Here, we performed a field experiment to more directly disentangle the role of stochastic processes, environmental selection, and dispersal in the composition and functioning of a natural bacterial decomposer community in the field. To increase our ability to detect these effects, we reduced initial biological and environmental heterogeneity using replicate nylon litterbags in the field. We then applied two treatments: ambient/added precipitation

SUBMITTER: Albright MBN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6469972 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature