ABSTRACT

Relative to the enormity of the number of individuals, organismal biomass, species diversity, and the role they play in virtually any ecosystem, the attention given to microorganisms in most ecological textbooks and by macroecologists examining interactions among macroorganisms is minuscule at best. That three of the five kingdoms of organisms (bacteria, protists, and fungi) are compressed into one homogeneous group commonly and collectively referred to as microorganisms further attests to the "out of sight, out of mind" perspective that has dominated ecological studies and belied the significance of microbes.