Divergent Co-occurrence Patterns and Assembly Processes Structure the Abundant and Rare Bacterial Communities in a Salt Marsh Ecosystem

Abstract

Estuarine salt marshes are highly productive ecosystems subjected to regular disturbances by hydrodynamic exchange. However, little is known about how distinct assembly processes and co-occurrence of taxa influence the structure of the abundant and rare bacterial biospheres in these soil systems. This study aims at unravelling these intricacies by studying a typical estuarine salt marsh located in Hangzhou Bay, China. Our study provides important pieces of evidence on the diverse distribution of rare and abundant bacterial biospheres. We show that a few abundant taxa are central nodes in species co-occurrence, potentially playing important roles as keystone species in the system. In addition, we highlight a dynamic interplay of assembly processes structuring these two subcommunities.