caa a22 4500 530098911 20181217030327.0 cr unu---uuuuu 181026e20170406xx s 000 0 eng 10.3929/ethz-b-000130447 doi 10.1038/srep45735 doi (ETHRESEARCH)oai:www.research-collection.ethz.ch:20.500.11850/130447 Microbial community response to hydration-desiccation cycles in desert soil [Elektronische Daten] [Adam Šťovíček, Minsu; id_orcid 0000-0002-3942-3743 Kim, Dani Or, Osnat Gillor] Sci Rep Open access ethresearch Life in desert soil is marked by episodic pulses of water and nutrients followed by long periods of drought. While the desert flora and fauna flourish after rainfall the response of soil microorganisms remains unclear and understudied. We provide the first systematic study of the role of soil aqueous habitat dynamics in shaping microbial community composition and diversity. Detailed monitoring of natural microbial communities after a rainfall event revealed a remarkable decrease in diversity and a significant transition in community composition that were gradually restored to pre-rainfall values during soil desiccation. Modelling results suggest a critical role for the fragmented aqueous habitat in maintaining microbial diversity under dry soil conditions and diversity loss with wetting events that increase connectivity among habitats. This interdisciplinary study provides new insights into wetting and drying processes that promote and restore the unparalleled microbial diversity found in soil. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 ethresearch Community ecology ethresearch Computational models ethresearch Microbial ecology ethresearch Šťovíček Adam joint author Kim Minsu; id_orcid 0000-0002-3942-3743 joint author Or Dani joint author Gillor Osnat joint author Scientific Reports London : Nature Publishing Group 7, p. 45735 2045-2322 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/130447 text/html WWW-Backlink auf das Repository (Open access) 1 Journal Article ethresearch ETHRESEARCH 856 40 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/130447 text/html WWW-Backlink auf das Repository (Open access) ETHRESEARCH 700 1- Šťovíček Adam joint author ETHRESEARCH 700 1- Kim Minsu; id_orcid 0000-0002-3942-3743 joint author ETHRESEARCH 700 1- Or Dani joint author ETHRESEARCH 700 1- Gillor Osnat joint author ETHRESEARCH 773 0- Scientific Reports London : Nature Publishing Group 7, p. 45735 2045-2322 BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 ETHRESEARCH ETHRESEARCH ETHRESEARCH Journal Article Open access