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What is a heatmap?

A heatmap visualizes the abundance of microbial features, whether taxa or functional features like genes and pathways, across many samples at once. Each row is a feature, each column is a sample, and each cell is color-coded to show how abundant that feature is in that sample. Annotation bars can layer metadata on top for extra context.
Heatmap Elements
Together these elements let you see whether samples share similar microbial profiles, whether specific taxa or functions are enriched in certain groups, and whether features rise and fall together across your cohort.

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Why is it useful?

A heatmap surfaces patterns across your whole dataset at a glance, patterns that are hard to spot in a table of numbers. Use one to:
  • Compare groups: see whether one group of patients has higher abundance of specific species or functions than another.
  • Spot sample groupings: reveal whether samples from the same body site, treatment, or condition cluster by their microbial profiles.
  • Find coordinated features: identify taxa whose abundances move together, hinting at co-occurrence or shared ecological roles.
  • Detect enrichment: quickly see which features stand out as especially abundant (or absent) in particular samples.
  • Get an overview: condense hundreds of features across many samples into one interpretable picture.