Publication Date:
2023-02-28
Description:
Terrestrial mud volcanoes (MVs) represent the
surface expression of conduits tapping fluid and gas reservoirs
in the deep subsurface. Such plumbing channels provide
a direct, effective means to extract deep microbial communities
fueled by geologically produced gases and fluids.
The drivers accounting for the diversity and composition of
these MV microbial communities, which are distributed over
a wide geographic range, remain elusive. This study characterized
the variation in microbial communities in 15 terrestrial
MVs across a distance of 10 000 km on the Eurasian
continent to test the validity of distance control and physiochemical
factors in explaining biogeographic patterns. Our
analyses yielded diverse community compositions with a
total of 28 928 amplicon sequence variances (ASVs) taxonomically
assigned to 73 phyla. While no true cosmopolitan
member was found, 85% of ASVs were confined within
a single MV. Community variance between MVs appeared
to be higher and more stochastically controlled than within
MVs, generating a slope of the distance–decay relationship
exceeding those for marine seeps and MVs as well as seawater
columns. For comparison, physiochemical parameters explained
12% of community variance, with the chloride concentration
being the most influential factor. Overall, the apparent
lack of fluid exchange renders terrestrial MVs a patchy
habitat, with microbiomes diverging stochastically with distance
and consisting of dispersal-limited colonists that are
highly adapted to the local environmental context.
Description:
Published
Description:
831–843
Description:
6A. Geochimica per l'ambiente e geologia medica
Description:
JCR Journal
Repository Name:
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV)
Type:
article
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