Endophyte: microorganisms that colonize inter- or intracellular space of plants, animals, and fungi.
Epiphyte: microorganisms that live on the surface of plants, animals, and fungi.
Historical vicariance : Contemporaneously observed geographic disjunction in species ranges caused by historical severance of a contiguous species range due to separation of land masses or geological events (e.g., river gorges).
Island : An island is both a true island of land surrounded by water and island-like habitats that are spatially and temporally isolated from habitats of the same type (sensu Itescu 2019).
Legacy effects : Effects of prior environmental conditions on subsequent organismal physiology, diversity, composition, and distributions after environmental conditions have changed.
Macroecological rules : Generalizable patterns of organismal distributions, abundances, and diversity patterns supported by known processes of organismal physiology/community assembly and/or dispersal.
Microorganisms : Here we define microorganisms as microscopic fungi, bacteria, archaea, and protists.
Priority effects: When the order of arrival at a given habitat gives primary colonizers an advantage in using resources to be able to outcompete subsequent colonizers.