Like larger organisms, microorganisms display distinct distributions in space and time. Martiny, Hanson and colleagues propose that four processes — selection, drift, dispersal and mutation — can shape such microbial biogeographic patterns, and analyse the literature to assess the evidence for their importance in shaping one pattern, the distance–decay relationship.
- China A. Hanson
- Jed A. Fuhrman
- Jennifer B. H. Martiny
