Metacommunity organization of soil microorganisms depends on habitat defined by presence of Lobelia siphilitica plants

We tested regional-scale spatial patterns in soil microbial community composition for agreement with species sorting and dispersal limitation, two alternative mechanisms behind different models of metacommunity organization. Furthermore, we tested whether regional metacommunity organization depends on local habitat type. We sampled from sites across Ohio and West Virginia hosting populations of Lobelia siphilitica, and compared the metacommunity organization of soil microbial communities under L. siphilitica to those in adjacent areas at each site. In the absence of L. siphilitica, bacterial community composition across the region was consistent with species sorting. However, under L. siphilitica, bacterial community composition was consistent with dispersal limitation. Fungal community composition remained largely unexplained, although fungal communities under L. siphilitica were both significantly different in composition and less variable in composition than in adjacent areas. Our results show that communities in different local habitat types (e.g., in the presence or absence of a particular plant) may be structured on a regional scale by different processes, despite being separated by only centimeters at the local scale.