Do the diversity criteria of conventional ecology apply to microbial ecology?

ABRIL ADRIANA; NOE LAURA; MERLO CAROLINA; VÁZQUEZ CAROLINA

Recent Research Developments in Ecology

Transworld Research Network

Año: 2013; p. 19 - 30

This review analyzes the main conceptual and methodological differences between macro-diversity (higher-organisms diversity) and micro-diversity (microbial diversity) assessment which can limit the application of conventional ecology criteria in microbial ecology. Our aim was to review the micro-diversity methodology and ecological interpretation based on the following aspects: species criteria, sample representativeness, richness assessment techniques, abundance determination methodology, and diversity index calculation. For this purpose, a sample of 200 papers from documents with ?microbial diversity? as key word from the last 10 years (2002-2012) was selected. Due to the large discrepancy between ecological diversity criteria form macro-and microorganisms we concluded that: a) it would be advisable to standardize sampling methodology and to define diversity units; b) the use of terminology regarding conventional ecology for microbial ecology research should be revised, particularly for microbial diversity word, which could be replaced by community structure; c) being cautious and prudent on ecosystem level conclusions; and d) diversity indexes should be named different from the conventional index due to the high methodological variability and calculation criteria.