Here are input files and R scripts for "Linking biodiversity and ecological function through extensive microeukaryotic movement across different habitats in six urban parks" published in iMeta.
How to cite this article:
Li, Shuzhen, Kexin Ren, Xue Yan, Andrey N. Tsyganov, Yuri Mazei, Alexey Smirnov, Natalia Mazei, Yiyue Zhang, Christopher Rensing, and Jun Yang. 2023. “Linking Biodiversity and Ecological Function Through Extensive Microeukaryotic Movement Across Different Habitats in Six Urban Parks.” iMeta.e103. https://doi.org/10.1002/imt2.103
These scripts have been validated using my data (in Final data folder). Please do not hesitate to contact me ([email protected]) if there is any bug during running these scripts.
Urban parks have become important hot spots for human recreational activity. Microeukaryotes are ubiquitous and connected between different ecosystem components, which play substantial ecological roles in the urban environment, maintaining ecosystem services. However, the connectivity of microeukaryotes in various habitats, and the impact of their movement on biodiversity and ecological functions in urban ecosystems remain largely uncharacterized. In this study, we conducted a field survey of microeukaryotes in five different habitats, viz. moss, soil, tree hole, pond sediment, and water in six urban parks. Results showed that there were significant differences in taxonomic and phylogenetic diversities, as well as metabolic flexibility among habitats. Both deterministic and stochastic processes were determined to be very important in shaping the microeukaryotic community assembly within a habitat, whereas deterministic dispersal limitation leads to community turnover across habitats. Notably, extensive migrations of microeukaryotes across urban park habitats were uncovered. Microeukaryotic movement facilitates the spread of microbes, and any habitat in urban parks has the potential to be an important source of microeukaryotes, consequently contributing to biodiversity maintenance. Opisthokonta was the main group moving between habitats, among which soil and water displayed the most active communication. Saprotrophs and symbiotrophs generally moved in all types of habitats, while pathotrophs were frequently observed traveling between moss, tree hole, and water, suggesting discrepant ecological functionality. Additionally, high-throughput sequencing was applied to target both V4 and V9 regions of 18S rRNA gene to better understand the overall microeukaryotic diversity and movement profile. Our analysis demonstrated that the V4 region was more accurate than the V9 region in some specific groups (e.g., testate amoeba), and primer pairs greater influenced the results in aquatic compared to terrestrial ecosystems. Our results highlight important microeukaryotic movement or connectivity across different habitats in supporting biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
Highly diverse but divergent microeukaryotes dwell in all types of habitats in urban park ecosystems.
Extensive microbial migration occurs between both terrestrial and aquatic habitats.
Microbial movement is beneficial to the maintenance of biodiversity and the exchange of functional guilds.