Microbial communities comprise an interwoven matrix of biological diversity modified by physical and chemical variation over space and time. Although these communities are the major drivers of biosphere processes, relatively little is known about their structure and function, and predictive modeling is limited by a dearth of comprehensive ecological principles that describe microbial community processes. Here we discuss working definitions of central ecological terms that have been used in various fashions in microbial ecology, provide a framework by focusing on different types of interactions within communities, review the status of the interface between evolutionary and ecological study, and highlight important similarities and differences between macro- and microbial ecology. We describe current approaches to study microbial ecology and progress toward predictive modeling.

中文翻译：

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交战规则：规范微生物群落的种间相互作用。

微生物群落包括交织的生物多样性矩阵，该矩阵通过空间和时间的物理和化学变化而改变。尽管这些群落是生物圈过程的主要驱动力，但对其结构和功能的了解相对较少，并且由于缺乏描述微生物群落过程的综合生态原理，因此预测模型受到限制。在这里，我们讨论了已在微生物生态学中以各种方式使用的中央生态学术语的工作定义，通过关注社区内部不同类型的相互作用提供了一个框架，回顾了进化与生态学研究之间的界面状态，并强调了重要的相似性和宏观和微生物生态学之间的差异。