Data from: Cyanobacteria drive community composition and functionality in rock-soil interface communities

Most ecological research on hypoliths, significant primary producers in hyperarid deserts, has focused on the diversity of individual groups of microbes (i.e. bacteria). However, microbial communities are inherently complex, and the interactions between cyanobacteria, heterotrophic bacteria, protista and metazoa, are likely to be very important for ecosystem functioning. Cyanobacterial and heterotrophic bacterial communities were analysed by pyrosequencing, while metazoan and protistan communities were assessed by T-RFLP analysis. Microbial functionality was estimated using carbon substrate utilization. Cyanobacterial community composition was significant in shaping community structure and function in hypoliths. Ecological network analysis showed that most significant co-occurrences were positive, representing potential synergistic interactions. There were several highly interconnected associations (modules) and specific cyanobacteria were important in driving the modular structure of hypolithic networks. Together, our results suggest that hypolithic cyanobacteria have strong effects on higher trophic levels and ecosystem functioning.当前针对石下生物（hypoliths）——超干旱荒漠中的重要初级生产者——的生态学研究，大多聚焦于单一微生物类群（即细菌）的多样性。然而，微生物群落本质上具有高度复杂性，蓝细菌、异养细菌、原生生物与后生动物之间的相互作用，很可能对生态系统功能至关重要。本研究通过焦磷酸测序（pyrosequencing）分析蓝细菌与异养细菌群落，采用末端限制性片段长度多态性（Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism, T-RFLP）分析评估后生动物与原生生物群落；微生物功能活性通过碳底物利用情况进行估算。研究结果显示，蓝细菌群落组成是塑造石下生物群落结构与功能的关键因素。生态网络分析表明，绝大多数显著共现关联呈正向，代表潜在的协同相互作用；同时存在多个高度互联的关联模块，且特定蓝细菌在驱动石下生物网络的模块化结构中发挥了重要作用。综合来看，本研究结果表明石下生境中的蓝细菌对更高营养级生物与生态系统功能具有显著调控效应。