Data from: Tipping elements in the human intestinal ecosystem

The microbial communities living in the human intestine can have profound
impact on our well-being and health. However, we have limited
understanding of the mechanisms that control this complex ecosystem. Here,
based on a deep phylogenetic analysis of the intestinal microbiota in a
thousand western adults, we identify groups of bacteria that exhibit
robust bistable abundance distributions. These bacteria are either
abundant or nearly absent in most individuals, and exhibit decreased
temporal stability at the intermediate abundance range. The abundances of
these bimodally distributed bacteria vary independently, and their
abundance distributions are not affected by short-term dietary
interventions. However, their contrasting alternative states are
associated with host factors such as ageing and overweight. We propose
that the bistable groups reflect tipping elements of the intestinal
microbiota, whose critical transitions may have profound health
implications and diagnostic potential.