From Forest Soil to the Canopy: Increased Habitat Diversity Does Not Increase Species Richness of Cercozoa and Oomycota in Tree Canopies.

ABSTRACT: Tree canopies provide habitats for diverse and until now, still poorly characterized communities of microbial eukaryotes. One of the most general patterns in community ecology is the increase in species richness with increasing habitat diversity. Thus, environmental heterogeneity of tree canopies should be an important factor governing community structure and diversity in this subsystem of forest ecosystems. Nevertheless, it is unknown if similar patterns are reflected at the microbial scale within unicellular eukaryotes (protists). In this study, high-throughput sequencing of two prominent protistan taxa, Cercozoa (Rhizaria) and Oomycota (Stramenopiles), was performed. Group specific primers were used to comprehensively analyze their diversity in various microhabitats of a floodplain fore

SUBMITTER: Jauss RT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7782269 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature