Divergent Co-occurrence Patterns and Assembly Processes Structure the Abundant and Rare Bacterial Communities in a Salt Marsh Ecosystem
Shicong Du, Francisco Dini‐Andreote, Nan Zhang, Chunling Liang, Zhiyuan Yao, Huajun Zhang, Demin Zhang
Abstract
Estuarine salt marshes are highly productive ecosystems subjected to regular disturbances by hydrodynamic exchange. However, little is known about how distinct assembly processes and co-occurrence of taxa influence the structure of the abundant and rare bacterial biospheres in these soil systems. This study aims at unravelling these intricacies by studying a typical estuarine salt marsh located in Hangzhou Bay, China. Our study provides important pieces of evidence on the diverse distribution of rare and abundant bacterial biospheres. We show that a few abundant taxa are central nodes in species co-occurrence, potentially playing important roles as keystone species in the system. In addition, we highlight a dynamic interplay of assembly processes structuring these two subcommunities.