Definition
Microbial species. Microorganisms exhibiting a high degree of phenotypic and genetic similarity; a pragmatic approach to demarcating “microbial species” using molecular biology tools has been 97% 16S rRNA sequence identity or 70% genome identity based on DNA-DNA hybridization (Stackebrandt and Goebel, 1994); thus, microbial species are often defined by operational characteristics (operational taxonomic unit). The microbial species concept is still a matter of controversy.
Microbial population. Individual microorganisms (of the same “species”) form a population.
Guild. Metabolically related populations, e.g., sulfate-reducing microorganisms.
Microbial community. All microbial populations in a habitat.
Microbial community structure . The composition of a microbial community and the abundance of its members.
Microbial diversity. The number of different species in a habitat; sometimes (falsely) used as a synonym for community structure.
Habitat...
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Friedrich, M.W. (2011). Microbial Communities, Structure, and Function. In: Reitner, J., Thiel, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geobiology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9212-1_144
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