Open AccessGeographic distance and ecosystem size determine the distribution of smallest protists in lacustrine ecosystems
Author(s) -
Lepère Cécile,
Domaizon Isabelle,
Taïb Najwa,
Mangot JeanFrançois,
Bronner Gisèle,
Boucher Delphine,
Debroas Didier
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
fems microbiology ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.377
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1574-6941
pISSN - 0168-6496
DOI - 10.1111/1574-6941.12100
Subject(s) - biology , unifrac , ecology , beta diversity , trophic level , distance decay , ecosystem , species richness , spatial distribution , geographical distance , biogeography , alpha diversity , spatial ecology , pyrosequencing , community structure , biodiversity , gene , geography , 16s ribosomal rna , population , biochemistry , remote sensing , demography , sociology
Understanding the spatial distribution of aquatic microbial diversity and the underlying mechanisms causing differences in community composition is a challenging and central goal for ecologists. Recent insights into protistan diversity and ecology are increasing the debate over their spatial distribution. In this study, we investigate the importance of spatial and environmental factors in shaping the small protists community structure in lakes. We analyzed small protists community composition (beta‐diversity) and richness (alpha‐diversity) at regional scale by different molecular methods targeting the gene coding for 18S rRNA gene (T‐RFLP and 454 pyrosequencing). Our results show a distance–decay pattern for rare and dominant taxa and the spatial distribution of the latter followed the prediction of the island biogeography theory. Furthermore, geographic distances between lakes seem to be the main force shaping the protists community composition in the lakes studied here. Finally, the spatial distribution of protists was discussed at the global scale (11 worldwide distributed lakes) by comparing these results with those present in the public database. UniFrac analysis showed 18S rRNA gene OTUs compositions significantly different among most of lakes, and this difference does not seem to be related to the trophic status.