Table 3.

Results of analysis of similarity (ANOSIM)^a between HS, LS, and NS wells^b

	Bacteria				Archaea
	ATT c		SUS d		ATT		SUS
	RANOSIM	p	RANOSIM	p	RANOSIM	p	RANOSIM	p
HS - LS	0.079	11.9%	0.019	53.3%	0.013	51.7%	0.493	0.03%
HS - NS	0.44	0.02%	–e	–e	0.857	0.07%	–e	–e
LS - NS	0.306	0.08%	–e	–e	0.599	0.10%	–e	–e

^aR_ANOSIM ranges from a value of 0, which indicates communities in each group are identical, to 1, where communities in one group are completely distinct from the other. The value of p is the percentage chance that 10⁶ randomly generated groups produced a value of R_ANOSIM greater than the one given.

^b The concentration of sulfate in HS wells is > 0.2 mM, between 0.03 – 0.2 mM in LS wells, and less than 0.03 mM in NS wells.

^c ATT = Microbial communities attached to in situ samplers.

^d SUS = Microbial communities suspended in groundwater.

^e Insufficient NS samples for statistically valid ANOSIM.