Dataset Information

Carrying Capacity and Colonization Dynamics of Curvibacter in the Hydra Host Habitat.

ABSTRACT: Most eukaryotic species are colonized by a microbial community - the microbiota - that is acquired during early life stages and is critical to host development and health. Much research has focused on the microbiota biodiversity during the host life, however, empirical data on the basic ecological principles that govern microbiota assembly is lacking. Here we quantify the contribution of colonizer order, arrival time and colonization history to microbiota assembly on a host. We established the freshwater polyp Hydra vulgaris and its dominant colonizer Curvibacter as a model system that enables the visualization and quantification of colonizer population size at the single cell resolution, in vivo, in real time. We estimate the carrying capacity of a single Hydra polyp as 2 × 10⁵Curvibacter cells, which is robust among individuals and time. Colonization experiments reveal a clear priority effect of first colonizers that depends on arrival time and colonization history. First arriving colonizers achieve a numerical advantage over secondary colonizers within a short time lag of 24 h. Furthermore, colonizers primed for the Hydra habitat achieve a numerical advantage in the absence of a time lag. These results follow the theoretical expectations for any bacterial habitat with a finite carrying capacity. Thus, Hydra colonization and succession processes are largely determined by the habitat occupancy over time and Curvibacter colonization history. Our experiments provide empirical data on the basic steps of host-associated microbiota establishment - the colonization stage. The presented approach supplies a framework for studying habitat characteristics and colonization dynamics within the host-microbe setting.

SUBMITTER: Wein T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5861309 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Carrying Capacity and Colonization Dynamics of <i>Curvibacter</i> in the <i>Hydra</i> Host Habitat.

Wein Tanita T Dagan Tal T Fraune Sebastian S Bosch Thomas C G TCG Reusch Thorsten B H TBH Hülter Nils F NF

Frontiers in microbiology 20180314

Most eukaryotic species are colonized by a microbial community - the microbiota - that is acquired during early life stages and is critical to host development and health. Much research has focused on the microbiota biodiversity during the host life, however, empirical data on the basic ecological principles that govern microbiota assembly is lacking. Here we quantify the contribution of colonizer order, arrival time and colonization history to microbiota assembly on a host. We established the f ...[more]

PMID: 29593687

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Project description:Changes in species' trophic niches due to habitat degradation can affect intra- and interspecific competition, with implications for biodiversity persistence. Difficulties of measuring species' interactions in the field limit our comprehension of competition outcomes along disturbance gradients. Thus, information on how habitat degradation can destabilize food webs is scarce, hindering predictions regarding responses of multispecies systems to environmental changes. Seagrass ecosystems are undergoing degradation. We address effects of Posidonia oceanica coverage reduction on the trophic organization of a macroinvertebrate community in the Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy), hypothesizing increased trophic generalism, niche overlap among species and thus competition and decreased community stability due to degraded conditions. Census data, isotopic analysis, and Bayesian mixing models were used to quantify the trophic niches of three abundant invertebrate species, and intra- and interspecific isotopic and resource-use similarity across locations differing in seagrass coverage. This allowed the computation of (1) competition strength, with respect to each other and remaining less abundant species and (2) habitat carrying capacity. To explore effects of the spatial scale on the interactions, we considered both individual locations and the entire study area ("'meadow scale"). We observed that community stability and habitat carrying capacity decreased as P. oceanica coverage declined, whereas niche width, similarity of resource use and interspecific competition strength between species increased. Competition was stronger, and stability lower, at the meadow scale than at the location scale. Indirect effects of competition and the spatial compartmentalization of species interactions increased stability. Results emphasized the importance of trophic niche modifications for understanding effects of habitat loss on biodiversity persistence. Calculation of competition coefficients based on isotopic distances is a promising tool for describing competitive interactions in real communities, potentially extendible to any subset of ecological niche axes for which specimens' positions and pairwise distances can be obtained.

Project description:Understanding the mechanisms underlying spatial variability of exploited fish is critical for the sustainable management of fish stocks. Empirical studies suggest that size-selective fishing can elevate fish population spatial variability (i.e., more heterogeneous distribution) through age truncation, making the population less resilient to changing environment. However, species differ in how their spatial variability responds to age truncation and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear.We hypothesize that age-specific habitat preference, together with environmental carrying capacity and landscape structure, determines the response of population spatial variability to fishing-induced age truncation. To test these hypotheses, we design an individual-based model of an age-structured fish population on a two-dimensional landscape under size-selective fishing. Individual fish reproduces and survives, and moves between habitats according to age-specific habitat preference and density-dependent habitat selection.Population spatial variability elevates with increasing age truncation, and the response is stronger for populations with stronger age-specific habitat preference. On a gradient landscape, reducing carrying capacity elevates the relative importance of density dependence in habitat selection, which weakens the response of spatial variability to age truncation for populations with strong age-specific habitat preference. On a fragmented landscape, both populations with strong and weak age-specific habitat preferences are restricted at local optimal habitats, and reducing carrying capacity weakens the responses of spatial variability to age truncation for both populations. Synthesis and applications. We demonstrate that to track and predict the changes in population spatial variability under exploitation, it is essential to consider the interactive effects of age-specific habitat preference, carrying capacity, and landscape structure. To improve spatial management in fisheries, it is crucial to enhance empirical and theoretical developments in the methodology to quantify age-specific habitat preference of marine fish, and to understand how climatic change influences carrying capacity and landscape continuity.

Dataset Information

Carrying Capacity and Colonization Dynamics of Curvibacter in the Hydra Host Habitat.

Publications

Carrying Capacity and Colonization Dynamics of <i>Curvibacter</i> in the <i>Hydra</i> Host Habitat.

Similar Datasets

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