For decades, scientists have wrestled with rival theories to explain how interactions between species, like competition, influence biodiversity.
For decades, scientists have wrestled with rival theories to explain how interactions between species, like competition, influence biodiversity. Tracking microbial life across the planet, researchers from McGill University show that biodiversity does in fact foster further diversity in microbiomes that are initially less diverse. However, diversity rates plateau with increased competition for survival and space in more diverse microbiomes.
Published in eLife, the findings could help scientists better understand how microbiomes – communities of micro-organisms living together in particular habitats like humans, animals and plants or even soils and oceans – might recover from biodiversity loss.
“We know that biodiversity is important for ecosystem stability and functions, and many physical, chemical, and biological factors can affect biodiversity. Our study shows that ecological interactions are likely an important and general factor that promote diversity,” says co-author Jesse Shapiro, an Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at McGill University.
Read more at: McGill University
