Robustness

The robustness of a microbiota refers to the degree of change in the microbiota after a disturbance and its ability to recover from this impact. It is an intriguing scale because it depicts the ecosystem’s overall steady state or resilience; for example, the environment may not directly impact a specific species. However, the extinction of another species may result in the collapse of the entire ecosystem because the microbiota structure is not “robust” or is overly vulnerable.