Uncovering the role of biogeography, resources, food web composition and time during microbial primary succession.
9 affiliations
- 1Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida , Gainesville, FL 32611-0430, USA.
- 2Biological Sciences, Boise State University , Boise, ID 83725, USA.
- 3Biological Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee , Milwaukee, WI 53211, USA.
- 4Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences University of Wisconsin-Madison , Madison, WI 53706-1207, USA.
- 5University of Fribourg , 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland.
- 6Département de biologie, chimie et géographie, Université du Québec à Rimouski , G5L3A1 Canada.
- 7Department of Biology and Marine Biology, University of North Carolina Wilmington , Wilmington, NC 28403-5915, USA.
- 8Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology, University of Maine , Orono, Maine 04469, USA.
- 9Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station, University of Maine , Orono, Maine 04469, USA.
Abstract
Ecological succession is shaped by multiple processes that operate simultaneously across spatial and temporal scales. While classical succession theory generally focuses on a single trophic level within a single location, often in plants or other macroscopic organisms, recent efforts have extended this framework to microorganisms across multiple ecological dimensions. The aquatic micro-ecosystem within the pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea, provides a natural model of primary succession replicated across a continental latitudinal gradient. Using this model system, we investigated how biogeography, food web structure and resource availability influenced bacterial succession. Over 12 weeks, we repeatedly sampled bacterial communities from seven sites spanning the latitudinal range of S. purpurea and characterized communities using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Both taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity increased over succession. These diversity patterns were not explained by temporal changes in food web composition, resources or environmental conditions, although pH, water volume, latitude and midge abundance, each influenced diversity independently of time. Latent Dirichlet allocation models identified six compositional groups with distinct temporal and biogeographic signatures. Early-successional groups were enriched in putative diazotrophs, while late-successional groups contained metabolically diverse taxa adapted to low-oxygen conditions. Our findings show that microbial primary succession in S. purpurea is shaped by time, biogeography and pitcher-scale environmental filters.
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BibTeX
@article{baiser2026uncovering,
title = {{Uncovering the role of biogeography, resources, food web composition and time during microbial primary succession.}},
author = {Benjamin Baiser and Jessica Bernardin and Erica B Young and Grace A Cagle and Zachary B Freedman and Sarah M Gray and Emmanuel Divinagracia and Isadora E Fluck and Dominique Gravel and Shelby LeClare and Zachary T Long and Sydne Record and Kaitlyn M Rhyner and Leonora S Bittleston},
journal = {Proceedings. Biological sciences},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1098/rspb.2026.0396},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42869474},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Uncovering the role of biogeography, resources, food web composition and time during microbial primary succession.
AU - Benjamin Baiser
AU - Jessica Bernardin
AU - Erica B Young
AU - Grace A Cagle
AU - Zachary B Freedman
AU - Sarah M Gray
AU - Emmanuel Divinagracia
AU - Isadora E Fluck
AU - Dominique Gravel
AU - Shelby LeClare
AU - Zachary T Long
AU - Sydne Record
AU - Kaitlyn M Rhyner
AU - Leonora S Bittleston
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Proceedings. Biological sciences
DO - 10.1098/rspb.2026.0396
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42869474
AB - Ecological succession is shaped by multiple processes that operate simultaneously across spatial and temporal scales. While classical succession theory generally focuses on a single trophic level within a single location, often in plants or other macroscopic organisms, recent efforts have extended this framework to microorganisms across multiple ecological dimensions. The aquatic micro-ecosystem within the pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea, provides a natural model of primary succession replicated across a continental latitudinal gradient. Using this model system, we investigated how biogeography, food web structure and resource availability influenced bacterial succession. Over 12 weeks, we repeatedly sampled bacterial communities from seven sites spanning the latitudinal range of S. purpurea and characterized communities using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Both taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity increased over succession. These diversity patterns were not explained by temporal changes in food web composition, resources or environmental conditions, although pH, water volume, latitude and midge abundance, each influenced diversity independently of time. Latent Dirichlet allocation models identified six compositional groups with distinct temporal and biogeographic signatures. Early-successional groups were enriched in putative diazotrophs, while late-successional groups contained metabolically diverse taxa adapted to low-oxygen conditions. Our findings show that microbial primary succession in S. purpurea is shaped by time, biogeography and pitcher-scale environmental filters.
SN - 0962-8452
SN - 1471-2954
ER -