SpaceMic

The SpaceMic1 project aims to uncover the mechanisms responsible for the small-scale assembly of soil microbial communities and shed light on the impacts of human activities on soil microbial diversity. The project aims to fill the knowledge gap in understanding the drivers of microbial communities across scales, particularly at scales that approach the size, dispersal range, and life histories of the soil microbiota. We use marker gene sequencing techniques to survey a fraction of a gram of soil at a time and homogenize samples in silico after sequencing to provide much more flexibility in the selection of sampling extent and allow sampling to cover several scales. The scientific relevance of the project is to understand the drivers of assembly over space, which can shed light into the mechanisms that maintain diversity and ecosystem processes, and on the effect of human interventions on biodiversity.