A central challenge in microbial community ecology is the delineation of appropriate units of
biodiversity, which can be taxonomic, phylogenetic, or functional in nature. The term …

Why does a microorganism associate with a host? What function does it perform? Such
questions are difficult to unequivocally address and remain hotly debated. This is partially …

BACKGROUND Microbial communities—microbiomes—are intricately linked to human
health and critical ecosystem services. New technologies allow the rapid characterization of …

There is tremendous enthusiasm for the microbiome in academia and industry. This
Perspective argues that in order to realize its potential, the field needs to focus on …

Like all interactions, the success of cross-discipline collaborations relies on effective
communication. Ecology offers theoretical frameworks and lexicons to study microbiomes …

Microorganisms do not exist in isolation in the environment. Instead, they form complex
communities among themselves as well as with their hosts. Different forms of interactions not …

Quantitatively linking the composition and function of microbial communities is a major
aspiration of microbial ecology. Microbial community functions emerge from a complex web …

Microbial communities comprise an interwoven matrix of biological diversity modified by
physical and chemical variation over space and time. Although these communities are the …

The ecological and evolutionary study of community formation, diversity, and stability is
rooted in general theory and reinforced by decades of system-specific empirical work …

Bacteria and fungi are of uttermost importance in determining environmental and host
functioning. Despite close interactions between animals, plants, their associated …