Year: 2021
Type: preprint
Abstract: Atmospheric transport is critical to dispersal of microorganisms between habitats and this underpins resilience in terrestrial and marine ecosystems globally. A key unresolved question is whether microorganisms assemble to form a taxonomically distinct, geographically variable, and functionally adapted atmospheric microbiome. Here we characterised globalscale patterns of microbial taxonomic and functional diversity in air within and above the atmospheric boundary layer and in underlying soils. Bacterial and fungal assemblages in air were taxonomically structured and deviated significantly from purely stochastic assembly. Patterns differed with location and reflected underlying surface cover and environmental filtering. Source-tracking indicated a complex recruitment process involving local soils plus globally distributed inputs from drylands and the phyllosphere. Assemblages displayed stressresponse and metabolic traits relevant to survival in air, and taxonomic and functional diversity were correlated with macroclimate and atmospheric variables. Our findings highlight complexity in the atmospheric microbiome that is key to understanding regional and global ecosystem connectivity.
Source: Research Square
Authors: Stephen Archer, Kevin Lee, Tancredi Caruso, Marcus Leung, Xinzhao Tong, Susannah J. Salter, Graham Hinchliffe, Teruya Maki, Tina Santl-Temkiv, Kimberley Warren-Rhodes, Benito Gomez-Silva, Kevin Hyde, Celine Liu, Antonio Alcamí, Dina Al-Mailem, Jonathan Araya, Stephen Cary, Don Cowan, Jessica Dempsey, Claudia Etchebehere, Batdelger Gantsetseg, Sean Hartery, Mike Harvey, Kazuichi Hayakawa, Ian Hogg, Mutsoe Inoue, Mayada Kansour, Tim Lawrence, Charles Lee, Mathius Leopold, Christopher McKay, Seiya Nagao, Yan Hong Poh, Jean-Baptiste Ramond, Alberto Rastrojo, Toshio Sekiguchi, Joo Huang Sim, William Stahm, Henry Sun, Ning Tang, Bryan Vandenbrink, Craig Walther, Patrick Lee, Stephen Brian Pointing
Institutions: Auckland University of Technology, University College Dublin, City University of Hong Kong, University of Cambridge, Kindai University, Aarhus University, Ames Research Center, Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, Universidad de Antofagasta, Mae Fah Luang University, National University of Singapore, Yale-NUS College, Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa, Kuwait University, University of Waikato, University of Pretoria, East Asian Observatory, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable, University of Canterbury, Kanazawa University, Polar Knowledge Canada, The University of Western Australia, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Desert Research Institute
Language: English
Subfield: Ecology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: Yale University, Yale-NUS College
Award: G4777230705
OpenAlex ID: W4248658564