Microbial functional diversity and enzymatic activities are critical to maintaining material circulation during litter decomposition in forests.Thinning,an important and widely used silvicultural treatment,changes the...Microbial functional diversity and enzymatic activities are critical to maintaining material circulation during litter decomposition in forests.Thinning,an important and widely used silvicultural treatment,changes the microclimate and promotes forest renewal.However,how thinning affects microbial functional diversity and enzymatic activities during litter decomposition remains poorly understood.We conducted thinning treatments in a Chinese fir plantation in a subtropical region of China with four levels of tree stem removal（0,30,50,and 70%）,each with three replicates,and the effects of thinning on microbial functional diversity and enzymatic activities were studied 7 years after treatment by collecting litter samples four times over a 1-year period.Microbial functional diversity and enzymatic activities were analyzed using Biolog Ecoplates（Biolog Inc.,Hayward,CA,USA）based on the utilization of 31 carbon substrates.Total microbial abundance during litter decomposition was lower after the thinning treatments than without thinning.Microbial functional diversity did not differ significantly during litter decomposition,but the types of microbial carbon-source utilization did differ significantly with the thinning treatments.Microbial cellulase and invertase activities during litter decomposition were significantly higher under the thinning treatments due to changes in the litter carbon concentration and the ratios of carbon and lignin to nitrogen.The present study demonstrated the important influence of thinning on microbial activities during litter decomposition.Moderate-intensity thinning may maximize vegetation diversity and,in turn,increase the available substrate sources for microbial organisms in litter and promote nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems.展开更多
Thirty-six medicinal plant species belonging to 25 families were surveyed to study Arbuscular mycorrhizal （AM） fungal diversity from different localities of North and South Goa of Western Ghats, Goa region, India. A...Thirty-six medicinal plant species belonging to 25 families were surveyed to study Arbuscular mycorrhizal （AM） fungal diversity from different localities of North and South Goa of Western Ghats, Goa region, India. A total of 30 medicinal plant species were found to be mycorrhizal and six plant species showed absence of AM fungal colonization. Forty two AM fungal species belonging to five genera viz., Glomus, Acaulospora, Scutellospora, Gigaspora and Ambispora were recovered from the rhizosphere soil. Glomus was found to be the most dominant genera in the study sites, and Glomus fasciculatum the most dominant AM fungal species. Negative significant correlation was observed between percent colonization and spore density. Simpson＇s and Shannon Weiner diversity index studies carried out in North and South Goa exhibited less variation in both the sites, indicating a stable and a diverse plant community.展开更多
Structural diversity is the key attribute of a stand. A set of biodiversity measures in ecology was introduced in forest management for describing stand structure, of which Shannon information entropy (Shannon index) ...Structural diversity is the key attribute of a stand. A set of biodiversity measures in ecology was introduced in forest management for describing stand structure, of which Shannon information entropy (Shannon index) has been the most widely used measure of species diversity. It is generally thought that tree size diversity could serve as a good proxy for height diversity. However, tree size diversity and height diversity for stand structure is not completely consistent. Stand diameter cannot reflect height information completely. Either tree size diversity or height diversity is one-dimensional information entropy measure. This paper discussed the method of multiple-dimensional information entropy measure with the concept of joint entropy. It is suggested that joint entropy is a good measure for describing overall stand structural diversity.展开更多
Background： Estimation of tree diversity at broader scale is important for conservation planning. Tree diversity should be measured and understood in terms of diversity and evenness, two integral components to descri...Background： Estimation of tree diversity at broader scale is important for conservation planning. Tree diversity should be measured and understood in terms of diversity and evenness, two integral components to describe the structure of a biological community. Variation of the tree diversity and evenness with elevation, topographic relief, aspect, terrain shape, slope, soil nutrient, solar radiation etc. are well documented. Methods： Present study explores the variation of tree diversity （measured as Shannon diversity and evenness indices） of Majella National Park, italy with five available forest types namely evergreen oak woods, deciduous oak woods, blacWaleppo pine stands, hop-hornbeam forest and beech forest, using satellite, environmental and field data. Results： Hop-hornbeam forest was found to be most diverse and even while evergreen Oak woods was the lowest diverse and even. Diversity and evenness of forest types were concurrent to each other i.e. forest type which was more diverse was also more even. As a broad pattern, majority portion of the study area belonged to medium diversity and high evenness class. Conclusions： Satellite images and other GIS data proved useful tools in monitoring variation of tree diversity and evenness across various forest types. Present study findings may have implications in prioritizing conservation zones of high tree diversity at Majella.展开更多
Twenty-three secondary forest communities with different structure were selected in Mao＇er Mountain National Park of Heilongjiang Province, China to study the relationship between diversity of forest plant species an...Twenty-three secondary forest communities with different structure were selected in Mao＇er Mountain National Park of Heilongjiang Province, China to study the relationship between diversity of forest plant species and environmental gradient. The forest plant species diversity was analyzed by the diversity index, and the environmental factors was quantified by the method of Whittaker＇s quantification of environmental gradient. Meanwhile, β-diversity indexes of communities were calculated with similar measurements. The results showed that the Shannon-wiener diversity index of forest plant species increased with the increase of the environmental gradient, and the β-diversity indexes of communities showed a liner increase along with the change of environmental gradient.展开更多
In order to investigate the effect of influent condition heterogeneity on diversity of the bacterial community,the degree of microbial resolution and effluent quality,biological treatment of micro-polluted source wate...In order to investigate the effect of influent condition heterogeneity on diversity of the bacterial community,the degree of microbial resolution and effluent quality,biological treatment of micro-polluted source water is proposed. Scanning Electron Microscopy( SEM) analysis reflects that influent conditions change the morphologies of biofilm. Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis( DGGE) analysis shows differences of H values are due to succession of functional bacterial communities. Microbial resolution values and species identifications reveal organic carbon is the main cause of community differentiation and bacterial migration.展开更多
The diversity of shrubs in rangelands of northern Syria is affected by the grazing management systems restricted by the increase in human and livestock populations. To describe and estimate diversity and compare the r...The diversity of shrubs in rangelands of northern Syria is affected by the grazing management systems restricted by the increase in human and livestock populations. To describe and estimate diversity and compare the rangeland grazing management treatments, two popular indices for diversity, the Shannon index and the Simpson index, were studied for the four combinations of two sites, Hammam and Obeisan, and two grazing methods, Closed and Open, using frequentist and Bayesian approaches. We simulated the a priori and a-posteriori distributions of the Shannon and Simpson diversity indices, where from a range of values for a constant in the a priori distribution the best value normalizing the distribution of the diversity indices was chosen. The Bayesian diversity estimates were higher than their frequentist counterparts and had lower standard errors. The grazing methods at each site and sites under each grazing method delivered significant diversity of shrub species. The Bayesian estimates resulted in lower p-values than the frequentist approach for two cases reflecting in Bayesian method’s higher power. Bayesian approach is recommended as it has a wider framework for inference on diversity studies.展开更多
α-diversity describes species diversity at local scales.The Simpson’s and Shannon-Wiener indices are widely used to characterizeα-diversity based on species abundances within a fixed study site(e.g.,a quadrat or pl...α-diversity describes species diversity at local scales.The Simpson’s and Shannon-Wiener indices are widely used to characterizeα-diversity based on species abundances within a fixed study site(e.g.,a quadrat or plot).Although such indices provide overall diversity estimates that can be analyzed,their values are not spatially continuous nor applicable in theory to any point within the study region,and thus they cannot be treated as spatial covariates for analyses of other variables.Herein,we extended the Simpson’s and Shannon-Wiener indices to create point estimates ofα-diversity for any location based on spatially explicit species occurrences within different bandwidths(i.e.,radii,with the location of interest as the center).For an arbitrary point in the study region,species occurrences within the circle plotting the bandwidth were weighted according to their distance from the center using a tri-cube kernel function,with occurrences closer to the center having greater weight than more distant ones.These novel kernel-basedα-diversity indices were tested using a tree dataset from a 400 m×400 m study region comprising a 200 m×200 m core region surrounded by a 100-m width buffer zone.Our newly extendedα-diversity indices did not disagree qualitatively with the traditional indices,and the former were slightly lower than the latter by<2%at medium and large band widths.The present work demonstrates the feasibility of using kernel-basedα-diversity indices to estimate diversity at any location in the study region and allows them to be used as quantifiable spatial covariates or predictors for other dependent variables of interest in future ecological studies.Spatially continuousα-diversity indices are useful to compare and monitor species trends in space and time,which is valuable for conservation practitioners.展开更多
Dufuya wetland gardens and Insukamini irrigation scheme in Lower Gweru communal areas of Gweru district are two examples of how rural communities can be self-reliant if they are capacitated. This study sought to compa...Dufuya wetland gardens and Insukamini irrigation scheme in Lower Gweru communal areas of Gweru district are two examples of how rural communities can be self-reliant if they are capacitated. This study sought to compare crop diversity between these two vegetable producing schemes. The location of the two areas and the selected plots were determined using the GPS （global positioning system） hand receiver. Maps of the quadrants were produced in a GIS （geographic information system） on a computer. Simpson＇s index D = sum （pi2） was used to measure crop diversity while the Shannon-Weiner index （/4） was used to measure crop evenness. Results show that although both schemes are viable, Dufuya Gardens have higher crop diversity than Insukamini irrigation scheme. The study recommends that AGRITEX officers at Insukamini must advise farmers to diversify their crops in order for their produce to be more competitive on the market and also to cushion farmers against the effects of natural hazards. Given the success of the two schemes, the government must seriously consider sustainable utilization of the many small-scale dams and wetlands lying idle across the country for crop production in order to empower poor rural communities as well as alleviate poverty.展开更多
目的观察电针对慢性应激抑郁大鼠行为学和肠道菌群每孔颜色平均变化率(Average well color development,AWCD)、Shannon-Wiener多样性指数的影响,探讨电针治疗抑郁症的作用机制。方法将60只SD大鼠随机分为正常组、模型组、调神畅情组和...目的观察电针对慢性应激抑郁大鼠行为学和肠道菌群每孔颜色平均变化率(Average well color development,AWCD)、Shannon-Wiener多样性指数的影响,探讨电针治疗抑郁症的作用机制。方法将60只SD大鼠随机分为正常组、模型组、调神畅情组和普通电针组,建立温和不可预见性应激抑郁模型,造模成功后予不同干预方法,观察各组大鼠行为学及肠道微生物AWCD、Shannon-Wiener多样性指数的变化。结果与正常组比较,模型组大鼠呈抑郁样表现,AWCD、Shannon-Wiener多样性指数均显著降低。与模型组比较,调神畅情组和普通电针组大鼠抑郁样症状明显改善,AWCD、Shannon-Wiener多样性指数均明显升高。结论电针能够改善慢性应激抑郁大鼠行为学表现,并提高其肠道微生物群落AWCD和Shannon-Wiener多样性指数,这可能是电针治疗抑郁症的作用机制之一。展开更多
BACKGROUND This study aimed to identify characteristic gut genera in obese and normal-weight children(8-12 years old)using 16S rDNA sequencing.The research aimed to provide insights for mechanistic studies and prevent...BACKGROUND This study aimed to identify characteristic gut genera in obese and normal-weight children(8-12 years old)using 16S rDNA sequencing.The research aimed to provide insights for mechanistic studies and prevention strategies for childhood obesity.Thirty normal-weight and thirty age-and sex-matched obese children were included.Questionnaires and body measurements were collected,and fecal samples underwent 16S rDNA sequencing.Significant differences in body mass index(BMI)and body-fat percentage were observed between the groups.Analysis of gut microbiota diversity revealed lowerα-diversity in obese children.Differences in gut microbiota composition were found between the two groups.Prevotella and Firmicutes were more abundant in the obese group,while Bacteroides and Sanguibacteroides were more prevalent in the control group.AIM To identify the characteristic gut genera in obese and normal-weight children(8-12-year-old)using 16S rDNA sequencing,and provide a basis for subsequent mechanistic studies and prevention strategies for childhood obesity.METHODS Thirty each normal-weight,1:1 matched for age and sex,and obese children,with an obese status from 2020 to 2022,were included in the control and obese groups,respectively.Basic information was collected through questionnaires and body measurements were obtained from both obese and normal-weight children.Fecal samples were collected from both groups and subjected to 16S rDNA sequencing using an Illumina MiSeq sequencing platform for gut microbiota diversity analysis.RESULTS Significant differences in BMI and body-fat percentage were observed between the two groups.The Ace and Chao1 indices were significantly lower in the obese group than those in the control group,whereas differences were not significant in the Shannon and Simpson indices.Kruskal-Wallis tests indicated significant differences in unweighted and weighted UniFrac distances between the gut microbiota of normal-weight and obese children(P<0.01),suggesting substantial disparities in both the species and quantity of gut microbiota between the two groups.Prevotella,Firmicutes,Bacteroides,and Sanguibacteroides were more abundant in the obese and control groups,respectively.Heatmap results demonstrated significant differences in the gut microbiota composition between obese and normal-weight children.CONCLUSION Obese children exhibited lowerα-diversity in their gut microbiota than did the normal-weight children.Significant differences were observed in the composition of gut microbiota between obese and normal-weight children.展开更多
基金financed by a project funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions(PAPD)the Research Innovation Program for College Graduates of Jiangsu Province,China(KYLX16_0832)
文摘Microbial functional diversity and enzymatic activities are critical to maintaining material circulation during litter decomposition in forests.Thinning,an important and widely used silvicultural treatment,changes the microclimate and promotes forest renewal.However,how thinning affects microbial functional diversity and enzymatic activities during litter decomposition remains poorly understood.We conducted thinning treatments in a Chinese fir plantation in a subtropical region of China with four levels of tree stem removal（0,30,50,and 70%）,each with three replicates,and the effects of thinning on microbial functional diversity and enzymatic activities were studied 7 years after treatment by collecting litter samples four times over a 1-year period.Microbial functional diversity and enzymatic activities were analyzed using Biolog Ecoplates（Biolog Inc.,Hayward,CA,USA）based on the utilization of 31 carbon substrates.Total microbial abundance during litter decomposition was lower after the thinning treatments than without thinning.Microbial functional diversity did not differ significantly during litter decomposition,but the types of microbial carbon-source utilization did differ significantly with the thinning treatments.Microbial cellulase and invertase activities during litter decomposition were significantly higher under the thinning treatments due to changes in the litter carbon concentration and the ratios of carbon and lignin to nitrogen.The present study demonstrated the important influence of thinning on microbial activities during litter decomposition.Moderate-intensity thinning may maximize vegetation diversity and,in turn,increase the available substrate sources for microbial organisms in litter and promote nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems.
基金support provided by the Planning Commission,Government of India,New Delhi for carrying out this study
文摘Thirty-six medicinal plant species belonging to 25 families were surveyed to study Arbuscular mycorrhizal （AM） fungal diversity from different localities of North and South Goa of Western Ghats, Goa region, India. A total of 30 medicinal plant species were found to be mycorrhizal and six plant species showed absence of AM fungal colonization. Forty two AM fungal species belonging to five genera viz., Glomus, Acaulospora, Scutellospora, Gigaspora and Ambispora were recovered from the rhizosphere soil. Glomus was found to be the most dominant genera in the study sites, and Glomus fasciculatum the most dominant AM fungal species. Negative significant correlation was observed between percent colonization and spore density. Simpson＇s and Shannon Weiner diversity index studies carried out in North and South Goa exhibited less variation in both the sites, indicating a stable and a diverse plant community.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 30371157)
文摘Structural diversity is the key attribute of a stand. A set of biodiversity measures in ecology was introduced in forest management for describing stand structure, of which Shannon information entropy (Shannon index) has been the most widely used measure of species diversity. It is generally thought that tree size diversity could serve as a good proxy for height diversity. However, tree size diversity and height diversity for stand structure is not completely consistent. Stand diameter cannot reflect height information completely. Either tree size diversity or height diversity is one-dimensional information entropy measure. This paper discussed the method of multiple-dimensional information entropy measure with the concept of joint entropy. It is suggested that joint entropy is a good measure for describing overall stand structural diversity.
文摘Background： Estimation of tree diversity at broader scale is important for conservation planning. Tree diversity should be measured and understood in terms of diversity and evenness, two integral components to describe the structure of a biological community. Variation of the tree diversity and evenness with elevation, topographic relief, aspect, terrain shape, slope, soil nutrient, solar radiation etc. are well documented. Methods： Present study explores the variation of tree diversity （measured as Shannon diversity and evenness indices） of Majella National Park, italy with five available forest types namely evergreen oak woods, deciduous oak woods, blacWaleppo pine stands, hop-hornbeam forest and beech forest, using satellite, environmental and field data. Results： Hop-hornbeam forest was found to be most diverse and even while evergreen Oak woods was the lowest diverse and even. Diversity and evenness of forest types were concurrent to each other i.e. forest type which was more diverse was also more even. As a broad pattern, majority portion of the study area belonged to medium diversity and high evenness class. Conclusions： Satellite images and other GIS data proved useful tools in monitoring variation of tree diversity and evenness across various forest types. Present study findings may have implications in prioritizing conservation zones of high tree diversity at Majella.
基金Foundation project： The paper was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China （39899370）.
文摘Twenty-three secondary forest communities with different structure were selected in Mao＇er Mountain National Park of Heilongjiang Province, China to study the relationship between diversity of forest plant species and environmental gradient. The forest plant species diversity was analyzed by the diversity index, and the environmental factors was quantified by the method of Whittaker＇s quantification of environmental gradient. Meanwhile, β-diversity indexes of communities were calculated with similar measurements. The results showed that the Shannon-wiener diversity index of forest plant species increased with the increase of the environmental gradient, and the β-diversity indexes of communities showed a liner increase along with the change of environmental gradient.
基金Sponsored by Major Science and Technology Program for Water Pollution Control and Treatment(Grant No.2012ZX07408001)State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment in China,Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities,China(Grant No.5710006113,HIT.BRETIII.201417)Postdoctoral Science Foundation of China(Grant No.2014T70324,LBH-Z12090)
文摘In order to investigate the effect of influent condition heterogeneity on diversity of the bacterial community,the degree of microbial resolution and effluent quality,biological treatment of micro-polluted source water is proposed. Scanning Electron Microscopy( SEM) analysis reflects that influent conditions change the morphologies of biofilm. Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis( DGGE) analysis shows differences of H values are due to succession of functional bacterial communities. Microbial resolution values and species identifications reveal organic carbon is the main cause of community differentiation and bacterial migration.
文摘The diversity of shrubs in rangelands of northern Syria is affected by the grazing management systems restricted by the increase in human and livestock populations. To describe and estimate diversity and compare the rangeland grazing management treatments, two popular indices for diversity, the Shannon index and the Simpson index, were studied for the four combinations of two sites, Hammam and Obeisan, and two grazing methods, Closed and Open, using frequentist and Bayesian approaches. We simulated the a priori and a-posteriori distributions of the Shannon and Simpson diversity indices, where from a range of values for a constant in the a priori distribution the best value normalizing the distribution of the diversity indices was chosen. The Bayesian diversity estimates were higher than their frequentist counterparts and had lower standard errors. The grazing methods at each site and sites under each grazing method delivered significant diversity of shrub species. The Bayesian estimates resulted in lower p-values than the frequentist approach for two cases reflecting in Bayesian method’s higher power. Bayesian approach is recommended as it has a wider framework for inference on diversity studies.
基金supported by Natural Science Foundation of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region(2022D01A213)。
文摘α-diversity describes species diversity at local scales.The Simpson’s and Shannon-Wiener indices are widely used to characterizeα-diversity based on species abundances within a fixed study site(e.g.,a quadrat or plot).Although such indices provide overall diversity estimates that can be analyzed,their values are not spatially continuous nor applicable in theory to any point within the study region,and thus they cannot be treated as spatial covariates for analyses of other variables.Herein,we extended the Simpson’s and Shannon-Wiener indices to create point estimates ofα-diversity for any location based on spatially explicit species occurrences within different bandwidths(i.e.,radii,with the location of interest as the center).For an arbitrary point in the study region,species occurrences within the circle plotting the bandwidth were weighted according to their distance from the center using a tri-cube kernel function,with occurrences closer to the center having greater weight than more distant ones.These novel kernel-basedα-diversity indices were tested using a tree dataset from a 400 m×400 m study region comprising a 200 m×200 m core region surrounded by a 100-m width buffer zone.Our newly extendedα-diversity indices did not disagree qualitatively with the traditional indices,and the former were slightly lower than the latter by<2%at medium and large band widths.The present work demonstrates the feasibility of using kernel-basedα-diversity indices to estimate diversity at any location in the study region and allows them to be used as quantifiable spatial covariates or predictors for other dependent variables of interest in future ecological studies.Spatially continuousα-diversity indices are useful to compare and monitor species trends in space and time,which is valuable for conservation practitioners.
文摘Dufuya wetland gardens and Insukamini irrigation scheme in Lower Gweru communal areas of Gweru district are two examples of how rural communities can be self-reliant if they are capacitated. This study sought to compare crop diversity between these two vegetable producing schemes. The location of the two areas and the selected plots were determined using the GPS （global positioning system） hand receiver. Maps of the quadrants were produced in a GIS （geographic information system） on a computer. Simpson＇s index D = sum （pi2） was used to measure crop diversity while the Shannon-Weiner index （/4） was used to measure crop evenness. Results show that although both schemes are viable, Dufuya Gardens have higher crop diversity than Insukamini irrigation scheme. The study recommends that AGRITEX officers at Insukamini must advise farmers to diversify their crops in order for their produce to be more competitive on the market and also to cushion farmers against the effects of natural hazards. Given the success of the two schemes, the government must seriously consider sustainable utilization of the many small-scale dams and wetlands lying idle across the country for crop production in order to empower poor rural communities as well as alleviate poverty.
文摘目的观察电针对慢性应激抑郁大鼠行为学和肠道菌群每孔颜色平均变化率(Average well color development,AWCD)、Shannon-Wiener多样性指数的影响,探讨电针治疗抑郁症的作用机制。方法将60只SD大鼠随机分为正常组、模型组、调神畅情组和普通电针组,建立温和不可预见性应激抑郁模型,造模成功后予不同干预方法,观察各组大鼠行为学及肠道微生物AWCD、Shannon-Wiener多样性指数的变化。结果与正常组比较,模型组大鼠呈抑郁样表现,AWCD、Shannon-Wiener多样性指数均显著降低。与模型组比较,调神畅情组和普通电针组大鼠抑郁样症状明显改善,AWCD、Shannon-Wiener多样性指数均明显升高。结论电针能够改善慢性应激抑郁大鼠行为学表现,并提高其肠道微生物群落AWCD和Shannon-Wiener多样性指数,这可能是电针治疗抑郁症的作用机制之一。
文摘BACKGROUND This study aimed to identify characteristic gut genera in obese and normal-weight children(8-12 years old)using 16S rDNA sequencing.The research aimed to provide insights for mechanistic studies and prevention strategies for childhood obesity.Thirty normal-weight and thirty age-and sex-matched obese children were included.Questionnaires and body measurements were collected,and fecal samples underwent 16S rDNA sequencing.Significant differences in body mass index(BMI)and body-fat percentage were observed between the groups.Analysis of gut microbiota diversity revealed lowerα-diversity in obese children.Differences in gut microbiota composition were found between the two groups.Prevotella and Firmicutes were more abundant in the obese group,while Bacteroides and Sanguibacteroides were more prevalent in the control group.AIM To identify the characteristic gut genera in obese and normal-weight children(8-12-year-old)using 16S rDNA sequencing,and provide a basis for subsequent mechanistic studies and prevention strategies for childhood obesity.METHODS Thirty each normal-weight,1:1 matched for age and sex,and obese children,with an obese status from 2020 to 2022,were included in the control and obese groups,respectively.Basic information was collected through questionnaires and body measurements were obtained from both obese and normal-weight children.Fecal samples were collected from both groups and subjected to 16S rDNA sequencing using an Illumina MiSeq sequencing platform for gut microbiota diversity analysis.RESULTS Significant differences in BMI and body-fat percentage were observed between the two groups.The Ace and Chao1 indices were significantly lower in the obese group than those in the control group,whereas differences were not significant in the Shannon and Simpson indices.Kruskal-Wallis tests indicated significant differences in unweighted and weighted UniFrac distances between the gut microbiota of normal-weight and obese children(P<0.01),suggesting substantial disparities in both the species and quantity of gut microbiota between the two groups.Prevotella,Firmicutes,Bacteroides,and Sanguibacteroides were more abundant in the obese and control groups,respectively.Heatmap results demonstrated significant differences in the gut microbiota composition between obese and normal-weight children.CONCLUSION Obese children exhibited lowerα-diversity in their gut microbiota than did the normal-weight children.Significant differences were observed in the composition of gut microbiota between obese and normal-weight children.
