Scaling laws predict global microbial diversity
Abstract
Ecological scaling laws are intensively studied for their predictive power and universal nature but often fail to unify biodiversity across domains of life. Using a global-scale compilation of microbial and macrobial data, we uncover relationships of commonness and rarity that scale with abundance at similar rates for microorganisms and macroscopic plants and animals. We then show a unified scaling law that predicts the abundance of dominant species across 30 orders of magnitude to the scale of all microorganisms on Earth. Using this scaling law combined with the lognormal model of biodiversity, we predict that Earth is home to as many as 1 trillion (10 12 ) microbial species.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- May 02, 2016
- Source ID
- 10.1073/pnas.1521291113
Entities
People
- Jay T. Lennon
- Kenneth J. Locey
Organizations
- Indiana University
- National Science Foundation
- United States Army Research Laboratory