A Hydration-Based Biophysical Index for the Onset of Soil Microbial Coexistence

Authored by Dani Or, Gang Wang

Date Published: 2012

DOI: 10.1038/srep00881

Sponsors: No sponsors listed

Platforms: No platforms listed

Model Documentation: Other Narrative Mathematical description

Model Code URLs: Model code not found

Abstract

Mechanistic exploration of the origins of the unparalleled soil microbial biodiversity represents a vast and uncharted scientific frontier. Quantification of candidate mechanisms that promote and sustain such diversity must be linked with microbial functions and measurable biophysical interactions at appropriate scales. We report a novel microbial coexistence index (CI) that links macroscopic soil hydration conditions with microscale aquatic habitat fragmentation that impose restrictions on cell dispersion and growth rates of competing microbial populations cohabiting soil surfaces. The index predicts a surprisingly narrow range of soil hydration conditions that suppress microbial coexistence; and for most natural conditions found in soil hydration supports coexistence. The critical hydration conditions and relative abundances of competing species are consistent with limited experimental observations and with individual-based model simulations. The proposed metric offers a means for systematic evaluation of factors that regulate microbial coexistence in an ecologically consistent fashion.

Tags

Evolution Dynamics environment ecology Physics Porous-media Motility Bacterial communities Prokaryotic diversity Surfaces