Determinants of community structure in the global plankton interactome

Abstract

Species interaction networks are shaped by abiotic and biotic factors. Here, as part of the Tara Oceans project, we studied the photic zone interactome using environmental factors and organismal abundance profiles and found that environmental factors are incomplete predictors of community structure. We found associations across plankton functional types and phylogenetic groups to be nonrandomly distributed on the network and driven by both local and global patterns. We identified interactions among grazers, primary producers, viruses, and (mainly parasitic) symbionts and validated network-generated hypotheses using microscopy to confirm symbiotic relationships. We have thus provided a resource to support further research on ocean food webs and integrating biological components into ocean models.

Fran Cornejo-Castillo
Fran Cornejo-Castillo
Staff scientist
Pablo Sánchez
Pablo Sánchez
Staff scientist

Bioinformatician interested in genomics of marine prokaryotic communities

Silvia G. Acinas
Silvia G. Acinas
Staff scientist