# Comparing Relative Abundance according to a metadata category
**URL:** https://forum.qiime2.org/t/comparing-relative-abundance-according-to-a-metadata-category/1647
**Category:** User Support
**Tags:** taxa, ancom
**Created:** [October 27, 2017, 9:51pm UTC](https://forum.qiime2.org/t/comparing-relative-abundance-according-to-a-metadata-category/1647 "2017-10-27T21:51:16Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@fstudart](https://forum.qiime2.org/u/fstudart)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2017, 9:51pm UTC](https://forum.qiime2.org/t/comparing-relative-abundance-according-to-a-metadata-category/1647/1 "2017-10-27T21:51:16Z")
Hi Everyone,
Just wondering if there is a way of comparing the relative abundance of a specific genus (e.g. Haemophilus) according to a metadata category (e.g. Survivors vs. Non-survivors)? I'm also interested in creating plots (boxplots) with these kinds of comparisons.
Thanks in advance,
FS
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### Author:  [@Nicholas\_Bokulich](https://forum.qiime2.org/u/Nicholas_Bokulich)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2017, 12:11am UTC](https://forum.qiime2.org/t/comparing-relative-abundance-according-to-a-metadata-category/1647/3 "2017-10-31T00:11:21Z")
Hi @fstudart,
> [@fstudart](#):
>
> Just wondering if there is a way of comparing the relative abundance of a specific genus (e.g. Haemophilus) according to a metadata category
Yes! After you [`collapse`](https://docs.qiime2.org/2017.10/plugins/available/taxa/collapse/) your feature table to the taxonomic level of interest, you can input the resulting feature table to [`ANCOM`](https://docs.qiime2.org/2017.10/tutorials/moving-pictures/#differential-abundance-testing-with-ancom) to test for taxa that are differentially abundant between groups (e.g., survivor/non-survivor). There are no QIIME2 actions that allow you to test a single taxon at a single time point.
There are a bunch of forum posts discussing interpretation and troubleshooting of ANCOM if you run into trouble with ANCOM during your analysis or have trouble interpreting the output, e.g., [here](https://forum.qiime2.org/t/interpreting-values-from-an-ancom-percentile-abundance-table/1497).
> [@fstudart](#):
>
> I’m also interested in creating plots (boxplots) with these kinds of comparisons.
QIIME2 has no such action for a single taxon at a single time point. However, ANCOM outputs median/quartile abundance data for each group, which can be used to easily generate plots in R, Excel, or whatever external program you favor.
I hope that helps!
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### Author:  [@system](https://forum.qiime2.org/u/system)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2017, 6:11am UTC](https://forum.qiime2.org/t/comparing-relative-abundance-according-to-a-metadata-category/1647/5 "2017-12-01T06:11:34Z")
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