Department of Biology, University of Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany.
FEMS Microbiol Ecol. 2010 Apr;72(1):89-102. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-6941.2010.00836.x. Epub 2010 Jan 19.
Despite its relevance for ecology and biodiversity, the stability of spatial microeukaryote diversity patterns in time has received only little attention using gene-based strategies, and there is little knowledge about the relation of spatial vs. temporal variation. We addressed this subject by investigating seasonal fluctuations in protistan communities in three ecologically distinct marine habitats. We analyzed 3360 eukaryote small subunit rRNA gene sequences collected along an O(2)/H(2)S gradient in a Norwegian fjord in order to reveal shifts in protistan community composition and structure in three different seasons. In all nine clone libraries, ciliates and stramenopiles accounted for the largest proportion. Yet, as expected, at the phylotype level, the protistan communities from distinct habitats differed significantly, with the number of shared phylotypes between two habitats being as low as 18%. This confirmed previous notions that environmental factors along the stratification gradient shape biodiversity patterns. Surprisingly, the intrahabitat community composition and structure varied at a comparable order of magnitude over time, with only 18-28% phylotypes shared within the same habitat. Our study demonstrates that the consideration of local fluctuations in microeukaryote diversity over time offers additional information for diversity surveys and can significantly contribute to the revelation of spatial protistan community patterns.
尽管空间微型真核生物多样性模式的稳定性对于生态学和生物多样性具有重要意义，但利用基于基因的策略对其进行时间研究却很少受到关注，并且对于空间变化与时间变化的关系知之甚少。为了解决这个问题，我们研究了三个生态上不同的海洋生境中原生动物群落的季节性波动。我们分析了在挪威峡湾的 O(2)/H(2)S 梯度上采集的 3360 个真核生物小亚基 rRNA 基因序列，以揭示三个不同季节中原生动物群落组成和结构的变化。在所有九个克隆文库中，纤毛虫和藻菌类占据了最大的比例。然而，正如预期的那样，在系统发育型水平上，来自不同生境的原生动物群落存在显著差异，两个生境之间共享的系统发育型数量低至 18%。这证实了先前的观点，即分层梯度沿线的环境因素塑造了生物多样性模式。令人惊讶的是，同一生境中时间内的群落组成和结构变化幅度相当，同一生境内仅共享 18-28%的系统发育型。我们的研究表明，考虑时间内微型真核生物多样性的局部波动可以提供更多的多样性调查信息，并可以显著有助于揭示空间原生动物群落模式。
