How sample heterogeneity can obscure the signal of microbial interactions.

ABSTRACT: Microbial community data are commonly subjected to computational tools such as correlation networks, null models, and dynamic models, with the goal of identifying the ecological processes structuring microbial communities. A major assumption of these methods is that the signs and magnitudes of species interactions and vital rates can be reliably parsed from observational data on species' (relative) abundances. However, we contend that this assumption is violated when sample units contain any underlying spatial structure. Here, we show how three phenomena-Simpson's paradox, context-dependence, and nonlinear averaging-can lead to erroneous conclusions about population parameters and species interactions when samples contain heterogeneous mixtures of populations or communities. At the root of

SUBMITTER: Armitage DW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6794314 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature