Future Outlook
The collection of papers in this Special Issue highlights the critical
insights that can be gained using high-throughput approaches, in
particular in relation to biodiversity dynamics. We now have a tool for
understanding how overall species composition changes across (1) spatial
gradients, whether habitat, elevation, precipitation, nutrient, or
anthropogenically-associated modifications. Moreover, we can also
examine changes through (2) time, whether using museum specimens,
ancients sediments, or sub-fossils to show how diet, host-associations,
parasitism, and other interactions have changed; and geological or
ecological chronosequences that provide insights into how entire
communities change over extended time periods. The set of papers
includes a mixture of studies, with about half focusing on
macro-organisms, the other half on microorganisms. The critical point
here is that we have a tool that allows comparison of processes across
scales. Thus, concepts developed for understanding biodiversity in
macro-organisms can be tested in real time using microorganisms, and
dynamics that have been learned from microbial systems can provide
insights into factors shaping communities of macro-organisms and their
interaction with entire ecosystems. As the approaches become more
robust, it will be easier to realize the potential of high-throughput
analyses to answer some of the most intractable questions in
biodiversity science.