High resolution time series reveals cohesive but short-lived communities in coastal plankton
Abstract
Because microbial plankton in the ocean comprise diverse bacteria, algae, and protists that are subject to environmental forcing on multiple spatial and temporal scales, a fundamental open question is to what extent these organisms form ecologically cohesive communities. Here we show that although all taxa undergo large, near daily fluctuations in abundance, microbial plankton are organized into clearly defined communities whose turnover is rapid and sharp. We analyze a time series of 93 consecutive days of coastal plankton using a technique that allows inference of communities as modular units of interacting taxa by determining positive and negative correlations at different temporal frequencies. This approach shows both coordinated population expansions that demarcate community boundaries and high frequency of positive and negative associations among populations within communities. Our analysis thus highlights that the environmental variability of the coastal ocean is mirrored in sharp transitions of defined but ephemeral communities of organisms.
- Authors:
-
- Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States). Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Broad Inst., Cambridge, MA (United States); Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States). Computational and Systems Biology Program
- Woods Hole Oceanagraphic Inst., Woods Hole, MA (United States). Dept. of Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering
- Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States). Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Dept. of Biological Engineering; Broad Inst., Cambridge, MA (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1523509
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0008743
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Nature Communications
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 9; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2041-1723
- Publisher:
- Nature Publishing Group
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Citation Formats
Martin-Platero, Antonio M., Cleary, Brian, Kauffman, Kathryn, Preheim, Sarah P., McGillicuddy, Dennis J., Alm, Eric J., and Polz, Martin F. High resolution time series reveals cohesive but short-lived communities in coastal plankton. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.1038/s41467-017-02571-4.
Martin-Platero, Antonio M., Cleary, Brian, Kauffman, Kathryn, Preheim, Sarah P., McGillicuddy, Dennis J., Alm, Eric J., & Polz, Martin F. High resolution time series reveals cohesive but short-lived communities in coastal plankton. United States. doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02571-4
Martin-Platero, Antonio M., Cleary, Brian, Kauffman, Kathryn, Preheim, Sarah P., McGillicuddy, Dennis J., Alm, Eric J., and Polz, Martin F. Thu .
"High resolution time series reveals cohesive but short-lived communities in coastal plankton". United States. doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02571-4. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1523509.
@article{osti_1523509,
title = {High resolution time series reveals cohesive but short-lived communities in coastal plankton},
author = {Martin-Platero, Antonio M. and Cleary, Brian and Kauffman, Kathryn and Preheim, Sarah P. and McGillicuddy, Dennis J. and Alm, Eric J. and Polz, Martin F.},
abstractNote = {Because microbial plankton in the ocean comprise diverse bacteria, algae, and protists that are subject to environmental forcing on multiple spatial and temporal scales, a fundamental open question is to what extent these organisms form ecologically cohesive communities. Here we show that although all taxa undergo large, near daily fluctuations in abundance, microbial plankton are organized into clearly defined communities whose turnover is rapid and sharp. We analyze a time series of 93 consecutive days of coastal plankton using a technique that allows inference of communities as modular units of interacting taxa by determining positive and negative correlations at different temporal frequencies. This approach shows both coordinated population expansions that demarcate community boundaries and high frequency of positive and negative associations among populations within communities. Our analysis thus highlights that the environmental variability of the coastal ocean is mirrored in sharp transitions of defined but ephemeral communities of organisms.},
doi = {10.1038/s41467-017-02571-4},
journal = {Nature Communications},
number = 1,
volume = 9,
place = {United States},
year = {2018},
month = {1}
}
Web of Science
Figures / Tables:

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