Anchialine microbial succession

When new land is created, initial microbial colonization lays the foundation for further ecological succession of plant and animal communities. Primary microbial succession of new habitats formed during volcanic activity has received little attention, especially aquatic habitats. The anchialine ecosystem, which includes coastal ponds in young lava flows, offers an opportunity to examine this process. Here, we characterized microbial communities of anchialine habitats in Hawaii that were recently created during eruptions of Kilauea in 2018. Samples from three anchialine ponds were collected ~2 years after their formation and at later time points. Sequence profiling of prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities was used to ask whether communities were similar to those from nearby, established anchialine habitats, and if community structure changed over time.