Spatial structure promotes microbial resilience to environmental fluctuations

Microbes are ubiquitous in nature, thriving in vastly different environments—from the human body to soil and marine ecosystems—with remarkable resilience. Multiple microbial species often coexist in these environments despite limited nutrients, and their communities are almost always spatially structured. However, the role that spatial structure plays in shaping microbial resilience to environmental fluctuations remains poorly understood. Here, we present a model that incorporates spatial structure into a consumer–resource framework. We find that spatial structure not only promotes coexistence under nutrient limitation but also enhances microbial resilience to perturbations. Interestingly, our results show that the rate of nutrient diffusion across local spatial niches influences microbial behavior, suggesting that spatial structure may fail to emerge in extremely nutrient-poor environments.