Diversity is the question, not the answer
- Published
- Accepted
- Subject Areas
- Ecology, Environmental Sciences, Genomics, Microbiology
- Keywords
- biodiversity, alpha diversity, microbial ecology, microbiome, metagenomics, 16S rRNA gene sequencing, microbial communities, community dynamics, ecological theory, perspectives
- Copyright
- © 2016 Shade
- Licence
- This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ Preprints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
- Cite this article
- 2016. Diversity is the question, not the answer. PeerJ Preprints 4:e2287v1 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.2287v1
Abstract
Local (within-sample/alpha) diversity is often implicated as a cause of success or failure of a microbial community. However, the relationships between diversity and emergent properties of a community, such as its stability, productivity, or invasibility, are much more nuanced. In the submitted manuscript, I argue that diversity without context provides limited insights into the mechanisms underpinning community patterns. I provide examples from traditional and microbial ecology to discuss common complications and assumptions about within-sample diversity that may prevent us from digging deeper into the more specific mechanisms underpinning community outcomes. I suggest that measurement of diversity should serve as a starting point for further inquiry of ecological mechanisms rather than an “answer” to community outcomes.
Author Comment
This perspectives piece has already undergone peer review at a journal, which suggested a few revisions. This piece was revised according to those helpful reviewer comments, and it was re-submitted to that journal for reconsideration. This is the first version submitted to PeerJ Preprints.