FIG 4.

Average relative abundances of bacterial taxa at the species level (A), archaeal taxa at the species level (B), ciliate protozoal taxa at the genus level (C), and anaerobic fungal taxa at the genus level (D) in rumen samples collected via four different sampling methods (rumen, buccal OM, buccal PG, and buccal SD) from animals feeding on four different diets (100LS, 100MS, 25MG, and 65MG). For bacteria and archaea, each bar represents the average for 6 animals per method-diet combination. For ciliate protozoa and anaerobic fungi, each bar represents the average for at least 5 animals per method-diet combination, except for the anaerobic fungi analyzed in the following method-diet combinations: buccal SD-100MS (average for 4 animals), buccal SD-65MG (average for 2 animals), and buccal PG-65MG (average for 2 animals). Taxa are indicated by colored segments in the bars, and those contributing less than 1% to the microbial community in all samples are not included.