Within-subject differences in plots of a non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordination based on Bray-Curtis Dissimilarity.

<p>Baseline samples from only the subset of subjects whose caries status remained constant over time (caries subjects that continued to develop caries and healthy subjects that remained healthy) was included, and within-subject differences by stage of caries were observed. A single sample from each stage of caries is included for each subject, and each point represents a single sample. The top panel shows the NMDS plot, with the centroid for each stage of caries marked. The metaMDS algorithm used puts the largest dimension of change along the horizontal axis. The <i>p</i>-value is for the overall ANOSIM model. The points in lower panels are sized by abundance for the most common species significantly associated with caries and health, and <i>p</i>-values are for the linear mixed effects model estimates. Empty plot symbols represent samples where that species was not detected.