Plumage microorganism communities of tidal marsh sparrows.

Microorganism communities can shape host phenotype evolution but are often comprised of thousands of taxa with varied impact on hosts. Identification of taxa influencing host evolution relies on first describing microorganism communities and acquisition routes. Keratinolytic (keratin-degrading) microorganisms are hypothesized to be abundant in saltmarsh sediments and to contribute to plumage evolution in saltmarsh-adapted sparrows.

Rapid, recurring, structured survey versus bioblitz for generating biodiversity data and analysis with a multispecies abundance model.

A bioblitz inexpensively and quickly generates biodiversity data, but bioblitzes are often conducted with haphazard, unreplicated sampling. Results tend to be taxonomically, geographically, or temporally biased, lack metadata, and consist of lists of observed taxa that do not enable further analyses or correction for imperfect detection. A rapid, recurring, structured survey (RRSS) uses a structured sampling design and temporal and spatial replication to survey randomly selected sites on a conservation property.