Editors´ Choice of Science recommended paper in Nature Microbiology by Tanja Shabarova
The unique survey made by authors from the Institute of Hydrobiology, Biology Centre CAS, and published in Nature Microbiology in January 2021, which characterized the response of an entire pond plankton community to heavy rain events, was recommended last Friday by editors of Science in their regular weekly Editors´ Choice.
Just as floods can temporarily displace human communities, intense rain periodically brings disturbances to aquatic habitats. To study these cycles of disturbance and recovery, Shabarova et al. compared physical and chemical features with microbial community dynamics in Jiřická Pond in the Czech Republic. Water inflow from extreme rain events caused a rapid disturbance, including washout of larger microorganisms, influx of nutrients, and introduction of virus-like particles. However, four well-defined phases of succession returned the pond to its original state by about 2 weeks after the disturbance, commented the editors of Science in their article Wash in, wash out, repeat.
More about the survey in the article Microbial drama in four acts: How small waterbodies defy the storms and help the landscapes to overcome consequences.
Nat. Microbiol. 10.1038/s41564-020-00852-1 (2021).
You can find the original article here:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-020-00852-1
