Fig 5. Archaeal abundance expressed as the archaea:bacteria ratio in different sample types in comparison with ruminal samples.

Relationships are derived for individual animals from the dataset presented in Fig 1 based on n = 20 per sampling site, except for buccal swab samples, from which 16 were obtained. Regression equations relating the archaea:bacteria ratio in the rumen with alternative sample types are:- Bolus: Y = 0.491±0.1393 X + 0.290±0.2710, r2 = 0.376, n = 20, P = 0.0024 Swab: Y = 0.313±0.0828 X + 0.277±0.1621, r2 = 0.471, n = 16, P = 0.0020 Faeces: Y = 0.557±0.3377 X + 0.190±0.1736, r2 = 0.010, n = 20, P = 0.288.