Spatial and temporal variability of microbial communities and salt distributions across an aridity gradient before and after heavy rains in the Atacama Desert

We investigate the shift in microbiome and salt compositions across a precipitation gradient of the Atacama Desert before and after two heavy rainfall events. Environmental factors were identified to analyze their impacts on local microbial communities. We use these data to understand the natural microbial compositions, networks, metabolisms, and adaptations to water perturbation in terms of both spatial and temporal variability.