Fig. 3. Principal component analysis (PCA) and non-metric multi-dimensional scaling (NMDS) plots of the bacterial community in the rubber phyllosphere
a. PCA plot of the bacterial community in the rubber phyllosphere. PC1 contributed the most significantly (91.93%), whereas PC2 explained just 4% of the variation.
The DZ and BS samples (closer geographically close) are clustered together in the PCA, while the WN and WZS samples (farther geographically) can be clearly distinguished from them. There are significant differences in bacterial communities among the different regions.
b. NMDS of the bacterial community in the rubber phyllosphere. Except for WZS_3 samples, samples with a closer geographical distance or similar climate type had higher composition similarity and tended to cluster together.