Fig 4
From: Microbiome definition re-visited: old concepts and new challenges
Microbiome dynamics in time and scale. a Temporal dynamics of the microbiome is characterized by considering both the transient state of microbiome as response to environmental perturbations, such as, for example, seasonal or circadian rhythms, and the resident state that contains rather constant core microbiota. b Spatial dynamics of the microbiome is characterized by variations in the microbial composition between similar habitats separated in space. The separation may be between the organisms (e.g., same plants species grown in two different locations), between the parts of one organism (e.g., plant roots and the whole plant), or even within an organ (e.g., comparing microbiomes of various intestinal segments)