Table 2.

Summary of methods considered for comparison.

Method	Type of data	transformation	Correlation estimation
MB	Absolute abundance	None	Sample correlation
SPIEC-EASI	Relative abundance	clr	Sample correlation
invSparCC	Relative abundance	log	SparCC
SPRING	Absolute/relative abundance*	None/mclr*	SPR correlation

For all methods, the final graphical model is estimated based on combining neighborhood selection approach with pulsar tuning parameter selection.

^*When absolute abundance data is not available, SPRING can be applied to relative abundance data following mclr transform described in section 2.3.