Table 2.

Phylotype richness and diversity estimators of the microbial communities among three elevational gradients.

Groups	Elevation gradients	OTUs	Chao-1	Simpson	Shannon
All	HGE	1781.40 ± 28.18a	2156.80 ± 40.02a	0.997 ± 0.000a	6.42 ± 0.02a
	MGE	1608.00 ± 67.28b	1926.25 ± 86.49b	0.994 ± 0.002a	6.16 ± 0.14b
	LGE	1438.75 ± 23.58c	1654.00 ± 21.61c	0.993 ± 0.000a	6.02 ± 0.03b
Generalists	HGE	276.60 ± 0.87a	279.56 ± 1.69a	0.987 ± 0.002a	4.90 ± 0.02a
	MGE	274.25 ± 2.32a	276.65 ± 1.80ab	0.983 ± 0.004a	4.77 ± 0.08a
	LGE	264.25 ± 1.31b	272.33 ± 2.31b	0.977 ± 0.005b	4.58 ± 0.04b
Specialists	HGE	15.40 ± 0.68c	39.67 ± 4.99c	0.857 ± 0.027a	2.35 ± 0.12b
	MGE	40.00 ± 12.14b	52.06 ± 13.36b	0.859 ± 0.038a	2.65 ± 0.09b
	LGE	64.25 ± 6.88a	100.91 ± 18.66a	0.949 ± 0.015a	2.65 ± 0.22a
Other taxa	HGE	1489.40 ± 28.23a	1851.00 ± 41.47a	0.996 ± 0.000a	6.26 ± 0.03a
	MGE	1293.75 ± 73.96b	1608.00 ± 92.56b	0.991 ± 0.003ab	5.97 ± 0.15b
	LGE	1110.25 ± 25.05c	1305.00 ± 26.32c	0.990 ± 0.000b	5.70 ± 0.01c

Values are the means (± Standard error). Different letters represent significant differences in P < 0.05 level between different elevational gradients. HEG, High elevational gradient; MEG, medium elevational gradient; LEG, low elevational gradients.