Figure 1. Fast UniFrac unweighted principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) for Trachymyrmex septentrionalis ants, gardens, soil samples, and control ants (Pheidole).

The PCoA uses a phylogenetic approach to compare the whole microbial communities between samples. The polygon contains all ant samples except for one male ant; the latter grouped near the garden and Pheidole samples. The chamber-soil and excavated-soil samples cluster loosely together, but the garden samples range widely, with several samples grouping mostly among the soils; despite careful excavation, gardens may have become contaminated with soil dust that spread to gardens accidentally by agitated workers.