Waterbirds as dispersal vectors of aquatic pro- and microeukaryotic communities

Waterbirds are important dispersal vectors of macrophytes, aquatic macroinvertebrates and zooplankton. However, no study to date has focused on their potential role in dispersing aquatic microbial communities. Here, we carried out the first explicit study on passive transport (endozoochory) of prokaryotes and microeukaryotes by waterbirds based on 16S and 18S gene amplicon sequencing. By directly comparing the dispersed set of organisms to the source pool of a natural metacommunity, we aimed for a realistic estimate of the overall importance of waterbird zoochory for natural microbial communities.