Bacteria Quote by Ed Yong
““When microbiologists first started cataloguing the human microbiome in its entirety they hoped to discover a "core" microbiome: a group of species that everyone shares. It's now debatable if that core exists. Some species are common, but none is everywhere. If there is a core, it exists at the level of functions, not organisms. There are certain jobs, like digesting a certain nutrient or carrying out a specific metabolic trick, that are always filled by some microbe-just not always the same one. You see the same trend on a bigger scale. In New Zealand, kiwis root through leaf litter in search of worms, doing what a badger might do in England. Tigers and clouded leopards stalk the forests of Sumatra but in cat-free Madagascar that same niche is filled by a giant killer mongoose called the fossa; meanwhile, in Komodo, a huge lizard claims the top predator role. Different islands, different species, same jobs. The islands in question could be huge land masses, or individual people.””
About This Quote
Source Article: The Atlantic, “The Microbiome’s Core” 2020
Microbial communities differ across hosts, but functional roles stay consistent, showing ecosystems fill similar niches with different species.
In simple terms: Different species do the same jobs in ecosystems.
Key Takeaway
Look for functional similarity, not just species identity.
Themes
ecology
diversity
functionality
Mood
curious
informative
Type
scientific
educational
When to use this quote
- human health
- environmental conservation
- agricultural microbiology
- urban wildlife management
Key Concepts
niche theory
convergent evolution
microbiome research
Questions to Reflect On
- What functions matter most in your system?
- How can you detect hidden species importance?
A Different Perspective
Functional redundancy may mask important species-specific effects.
