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Table 2 Bacterial diversity and animal weight within sub-categories, correlation between diversity and weight, and slope of the relationship of the diversity versus log-weight

From: Vertebrate bacterial gut diversity: size also matters

Category 

Number of samples

Simpson diversity mean (SD)

Weight in kg mean (SD)

Pearson correlation between diversity and weight

Power law relationship diversity = c weightz

cor

p value

Slope z

Confidence interval

Sub-categories

 Diet

  Carnivorous

13

32.0 (23.4)

19.0 (44.1)

0.277

0.359 (NS)

0.075 (NS)

  Frugivorous

10

55.2 (68.5)

1.3 (3.1)

0.533

0.113 (NS)

0.234 (NS)

  Granivorous

54

20.4 (21.7)

4.4 (9.4)

0.667

3.7e−08 (***)

0.298 (***)

0.205–0.391

  Herbivorous

44

301.6 (342.3)

354.5 (668.1)

0.338

0.025 (*)

0.137 (*)

0.018–0.256

  Omnivorous

60

111.3 (149.0)

50.5 (32.4)

0.542

7.7e−06 (***)

0.361 (***)

0.214– 0.508

  Piscivorous

8

20.4 (20.8)

7.5 (5.9)

0.030

0.944 (NS)

0.029 (NS)

 Phylogeny

  Bird

85

25.1 (23.6)

7.8 (23.0)

0.456

1.1e−05 (***)

0.202 (***)

0.116–0.288

  Mammal

101

194.9 (268.8)

183.3 (464.0)

0.415

1.6e−05 (***)

0.272 (***)

0.153–0.391

  Reptile

3

119.3 (131.9)

1.6 (1.2)

0.964

0.172 (NS)

1.686 (NS)

 Gut structure

  Caecum

46

70.4 (80.6)

26.1 (65.3)

0.528

1.7e−04 (***)

0.397 (***)

0.203–0.591

  Colon

124

78.5 (122.5)

79.0 (382.7)

0.678

<2.2e−16 (***)

0.293 (***)

0.236–0.350

  Rumen

19

484.9 (449.7)

411.8 (384.5)

−0.036

0.883 (NS)

−0.031 (NS)

 Group size

  Large

85

93.1 (151.0)

65.8 (156.4)

0.734

1.3e−15 (***)

0.380 (***)

0.303–0.457

  Small

104

137.2 (253.7)

130.6 (449.1)

0.632

6.6e−13 (***)

0.300 (***)

0.227–0.372

 Age

  Adult

173

125.6 (222.2)

110.3 (364.6)

0.687

<2.2e−16 (***)

0.337 (***)

0.283–0.391

   Baby

16

28.9 (20.1)

6.3 (2.0)

0.205

0.446 (NS)

0.427 (NS)

 All

189

117.4 (214.3)

101.5 (350.0)

0.675

<2.2e−16 (***)

0.338 (***)

0.284–0.391

  1. NS not significant
  2. * low significance, *** high significance