title: Fluvial network organization imprints on microbial co-occurrence networks.
abstract: Recent studies highlight linkages among the architecture of ecological networks, their persistence facing environmental disturbance, and the related patterns of biodiversity. A hitherto unresolved question is whether the structure of the landscape inhabited by organisms leaves an imprint on their ecological networks. We analyzed, based on pyrosequencing profiling of the biofilm communities in 114 streams, how features inherent to fluvial networks affect the co-occurrence networks that the microorganisms form in these biofilms. Our findings suggest that hydrology and metacommunity dynamics, both changing predictably across fluvial networks, affect the fragmentation of the microbial co-occurrence networks throughout the fluvial network. The loss of taxa from co-occurrence networks demonstrates that the removal of gatekeepers disproportionately contributed to network fragmentation, which has potential implications for the functions biofilms fulfill in stream ecosystems. Our findings are critical because of increased anthropogenic pressures deteriorating stream ecosystem integrity and biodiversity.
authors.affiliation: Division of Computational Systems Biology, Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria;
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Widder
authors.affiliation: Division of Limnology, Department of Limnology and Oceanography, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria; WasserCluster Lunz GmbH, A-3293 Lunz am See, Austria;
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Besemer
authors.affiliation: Division of Limnology, Department of Limnology and Oceanography, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria; Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, D-12587 Berlin, Germany;
authors.forename: Gabriel A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Singer
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Chimica, Ambientale e dei Materiali, Università di Bologna, I-40136 Bologna, Italy;
authors.forename: Serena
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1757-509X
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ceola
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Ecohydrology, School of Architecture, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland;
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bertuzzo
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom; and.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Quince
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom; and.
authors.forename: William T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Sloan
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Ecohydrology, School of Architecture, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland; Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Edile e Ambientale, Università di Padova, I-35131 Padova, Italy andrea.rinaldo@epfl.ch tom.battin@univie.ac.at.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rinaldo
authors.affiliation: Division of Limnology, Department of Limnology and Oceanography, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria; WasserCluster Lunz GmbH, A-3293 Lunz am See, Austria; andrea.rinaldo@epfl.ch tom.battin@univie.ac.at.
authors.forename: Tom J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Battin
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D018441:Biofilms / Q000254:growth & development*; D018533:Biomass; D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D062070:Hydrology / Q000379:methods*; D064307:Microbiota / Q000502:physiology*; D015233:Models, Statistical; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000502:physiology; D045483:Rivers / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
keywords: hydrological regime; stream networks