Citation

BibTex format

@article{Christensen:2021:rs.3.rs-152503/v1,
author = {Christensen, A and Piggott, M and Sebille, EV and Reeuwijk, MV and Pawar, S},
doi = {rs.3.rs-152503/v1},
title = {Small-scale convective turbulence constrains microbial patchiness},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-152503/v1},
year = {2021}
}

RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB - <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Microbes play a primary role in aquatic ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles. Patchiness is a critical component of these activities, influencing biological productivity, nutrient cycling and dynamics across trophic levels. Incorporating spatial dynamics into microbial models is a long-standing challenge, particularly where small-scale turbulence is involved. Here, we combine a realistic simulation of turbulence with an individual-based microbial model to test the key hypothesis that the coupling of motility and turbulence drives intense microscale patchiness. We find that such patchiness is depth-structured and requires high motility: Near the fluid surface, strong convective turbulence overpowers motility, homogenising motile and non-motile microbes equally. In deeper, thermocline-like conditions, highly motile microbes are up to 1.6-fold more patch-concentrated than non-motile microbes. Our results demonstrate that the delicate balance of turbulence and motility that triggers micro-scale patchiness is not a ubiquitous consequence of motility, and that the intensity of such patchiness in real-world conditions is modest.</jats:p>
AU - Christensen,A
AU - Piggott,M
AU - Sebille,EV
AU - Reeuwijk,MV
AU - Pawar,S
DO - rs.3.rs-152503/v1
PY - 2021///
TI - Small-scale convective turbulence constrains microbial patchiness
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-152503/v1
ER -