Including/Excluding ;__

Hi! Just a curiosity question I could not seem to find on the forum. One of my coworkers has found that when modifying the L7 relative abundance file for lefse, including or excluding the end ;__ on the ASV nanes yields different results (significant with, not significant without). I assume that excluding the ;__ on our ASVs is important, but I’m unsure the specific reason why.

Thank you!