Fluvial network organization imprints on microbial co-occurrence networks.

Widder S; Besemer K; Singer GA; Ceola S; Bertuzzo E; Quince C; Sloan WT; Rinaldo A; Battin TJ

doi:10.1073/pnas.1411723111

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Journal article

Fluvial network organization imprints on microbial co-occurrence networks.

Widder S Division of Computational Systems Biology, Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria;
Besemer K Division of Limnology, Department of Limnology and Oceanography, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria; WasserCluster Lunz GmbH, A-3293 Lunz am See, Austria;
Singer GA Division of Limnology, Department of Limnology and Oceanography, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria; Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, D-12587 Berlin, Germany;
Ceola S Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Chimica, Ambientale e dei Materiali, Università di Bologna, I-40136 Bologna, Italy;
Bertuzzo E Laboratory of Ecohydrology, School of Architecture, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland;
Quince C School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom; and.
Sloan WT School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom; and.
Rinaldo A Laboratory of Ecohydrology, School of Architecture, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland; Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Edile e Ambientale, Università di Padova, I-35131 Padova, Italy andrea.rinaldo@epfl.ch tom.battin@univie.ac.at.
Battin TJ Division of Limnology, Department of Limnology and Oceanography, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria; WasserCluster Lunz GmbH, A-3293 Lunz am See, Austria; andrea.rinaldo@epfl.ch tom.battin@univie.ac.at.

2014-08-20

Published in:

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - 2014

English Recent studies highlight linkages among the architecture of ecological networks, their persistence facing environmental disturbance, and the related patterns of biodiversity. A hitherto unresolved question is whether the structure of the landscape inhabited by organisms leaves an imprint on their ecological networks. We analyzed, based on pyrosequencing profiling of the biofilm communities in 114 streams, how features inherent to fluvial networks affect the co-occurrence networks that the microorganisms form in these biofilms. Our findings suggest that hydrology and metacommunity dynamics, both changing predictably across fluvial networks, affect the fragmentation of the microbial co-occurrence networks throughout the fluvial network. The loss of taxa from co-occurrence networks demonstrates that the removal of gatekeepers disproportionately contributed to network fragmentation, which has potential implications for the functions biofilms fulfill in stream ecosystems. Our findings are critical because of increased anthropogenic pressures deteriorating stream ecosystem integrity and biodiversity.

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