Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Apr;11(4):853-862.
doi: 10.1038/ismej.2016.174. Epub 2017 Jan 10.

Where less may be more: how the rare biosphere pulls ecosystems strings

Alexandre Jousset  1 , Christina Bienhold  2   3 , Antonis Chatzinotas  4   5 , Laure Gallien  6   7 , Angélique Gobet  8 , Viola Kurm  9 , Kirsten Küsel  10   5 , Matthias C Rillig  11   12 , Damian W Rivett  13 , Joana F Salles  14 , Marcel G A van der Heijden  15   16   17 , Noha H Youssef  18 , Xiaowei Zhang  19 , Zhong Wei  20 , W H Gera Hol  9
Affiliations

Where less may be more: how the rare biosphere pulls ecosystems strings

Alexandre Jousset et al. ISME J. 2017 Apr.

Abstract

Rare species are increasingly recognized as crucial, yet vulnerable components of Earth's ecosystems. This is also true for microbial communities, which are typically composed of a high number of relatively rare species. Recent studies have demonstrated that rare species can have an over-proportional role in biogeochemical cycles and may be a hidden driver of microbiome function. In this review, we provide an ecological overview of the rare microbial biosphere, including causes of rarity and the impacts of rare species on ecosystem functioning. We discuss how rare species can have a preponderant role for local biodiversity and species turnover with rarity potentially bound to phylogenetically conserved features. Rare microbes may therefore be overlooked keystone species regulating the functioning of host-associated, terrestrial and aquatic environments. We conclude this review with recommendations to guide scientists interested in investigating this rapidly emerging research area.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Potential mechanisms that can drive local rarity. Rarity can be linked to two types of mechanisms: (1) mechanisms related to species characteristics (a, b), and (2) mechanisms related to local biotic and abiotic conditions (c, d). Drivers of rarity include (a) narrow niche breadth, (b) high intraspecific competition, (c) low competitive abilities and (d) frequency-dependent predation. In all panels, rare species are indicated in red, while abundant species are indicated in blue.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Overview of ecosystem functions supported by rare species. Rare species can drive key processes in geochemical cycles and are major players in nutrient cycling greenhouse gas emissions and pollutant degradation. They can affect community assembly by preventing the invasion of new species, and stabilize community function in fluctuating environments. Further, rare microbes are essential players of host-associated microbiomes in plants and animals by preventing pathogen establishment and stimulating host immunity. References are given in Table 1.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Aanderud ZT, Jones S, Fierer N, Lennon JT. (2015). Resuscitation of the rare biosphere contributes to pulses of ecosystem activity. Front Microbiol 6: 24. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ai DXC, Chu CJ, Ellwood MDF, Hou R, Wang G. (2013). Migration and niche partitioning simultaneously increase species richness and rarity. Ecol Model 258: 33–39.
    1. Allan E, Weisser W, Weigelt A, Roscher C, Fischer M, Hillebrand H. (2011). More diverse plant communities have higher functioning over time due to turnover in complementary dominant species. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 108: 17034–17039. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Barberán A, Ramirez KS, Leff JW, Bradford MA, Wall DH, Fierer N. (2014). Why are some microbes more ubiquitous than others? Predicting the habitat breadth of soil bacteria. Ecol Lett 17: 794–802. - PubMed
    1. Baumann K, Dignac MF, Rumpel C, Bardoux G, Sarr A, Steffens M et al. (2013). Soil microbial diversity affects soil organic matter decomposition in a silty grassland soil. Biochemistry 114: 201–212.