Local biotic interactions drive species-specific divergence in soil bacterial communities.

ABSTRACT: It is well accepted that environmental heterogeneity and dispersal are key factors determining soil bacterial community composition, yet little is known about the role of local biotic interactions. Here we address this issue with an abundance-manipulation experiment that was conducted in a semiarid grassland. We manually increased the abundance of six randomly chosen resident bacterial species in separate, closed, communities and allowed the communities to recover in situ for 1 year. The single episode of increase in the abundance of different species drove species-specific community divergence accompanied by a decline in local diversity. Four of the six added species caused a decrease in the abundance of their closely related species, suggesting an important role of interspecific competit

SUBMITTER: Zhao XF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6794262 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature