1. A method of making a synthetic consortium comprising: (i) obtaining two or more samples from at least two different sources, wherein each sample comprises a plurality of microbes; (ii) determining the microbial composition and abundance of the samples, wherein the abundance of each observed microbe is recorded for each sample; (iii) performing a correlation analysis of abundances of one microbe in the two or more samples to abundances of another microbe in the two or more samples; (iv) repeating step (iii) for at least one additional pair of microbes in said samples; (v) identifying a group of two or more microbes, whose abundance correlation to one another is greater than to other microbes in the samples; and (vi) assembling a synthetic microbial consortium by physically combining at least two microbial cultures of the identified microbes.