Metacommunity analysis of seasonal and spatial variation of Cercozoa in a grassland soil

We investigated small-scale temporal and spatial distribution of the Cercozoa (Rhizaria, Harosa), a very common group of amoebae and flagellate protists, in an 10x10 m unfertilized grassland soil in Germany. From 177 soil samples, collected at six dates from April to November 2011, we obtained 694 cercozoan Operational Taxonomy Units (OTUs) at 97% similarity threshold, representing > 6 millions sequences. All major cercozoan groups were present in this small grassland. We established a functional traits database for all taxa, allowing to infer how the cercozoan biodiversity influences ecosystems processes and services. Cercozoan communities were both spatially and seasonally structured.