Fig. 9
Percentage of neutral OTUs over time and treatment. Using the non-linear least squares model (NLS), the percentage of OTUs that fit the neutral model within a confidence interval of 95% showed variable trends between communities across time and treatments. A goodness of fit R2> 0.5 was considered as the significant threshold of neutrality fit. The cadmium treatment invoked stochasticity in the water communities, while in gut and skin communities, the percentage of neutral OTUs remained higher in the control compared to treatments.