Macroecological laws describe variation and diversity in microbial communities.

ABSTRACT: How the coexistence of many species is maintained is a fundamental and unresolved question in ecology. Coexistence is a puzzle because we lack a mechanistic understanding of the variation in species presence and abundance. Whether variation in ecological communities is driven by deterministic or random processes is one of the most controversial issues in ecology. Here, I study the variation of species presence and abundance in microbial communities from a macroecological standpoint. I identify three macroecological laws that quantitatively characterize the fluctuation of species abundance across communities and over time. Using these three laws, one can predict species' presence and absence, diversity, and commonly studied macroecological patterns. I show that a mathematical model based on

SUBMITTER: Grilli J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7506021 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature