Captivity and Animal Microbiomes: Potential Roles of Microbiota for Influencing Animal Conservation

Dallas, Jason; Warne, Robin W.

doi:10.1007/s00248-022-01991-0

Cited by 45 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 264 publications

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“…Asterisks indicated a significant difference, with "*" for p < 0.05, "**" for p < 0.01, and "***" for p < 0.001. Dallas and Warne, 2022). Nevertheless, overreliance on provisioned foods may increase the risk of obesity and steadily reduce the survival ability of wild animals (Clayton et al, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Maintaining high gut microbiota diversity is essential for maintaining diverse digestive functions ( Lozupone et al, 2012 ; Amato et al, 2013 ), signifying that dietary supplementation could not reduce the capacity of these macaques to ferment natural plants. Furthermore, early studies have discovered that replicating natural food helps maintain the diversity in the gut microbiota of captive animals ( Martínez-Mota et al, 2020 ; Dallas and Warne, 2022 ). Nevertheless, overreliance on provisioned foods may increase the risk of obesity and steadily reduce the survival ability of wild animals ( Clayton et al, 2016 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, overreliance on provisioned foods may increase the risk of obesity and steadily reduce the survival ability of wild animals ( Clayton et al, 2016 ). Thus, balancing provision and natural feeding is necessary to maintain the ability of macaques to digest numerous food types, which is also the focus of animal rescue, protection, and management ( Dallas and Warne, 2022 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wildlife tourism has potentially adverse impacts on wild animals, partially due to the proximity to humans or receiving provisioned food, potentially leading to reduced fitness or imbalance of the gut microbiota ( Clayton et al, 2016 ; Dallas and Warne, 2022 ). Usually, different food compositions considerably affect the structural features of the gut microbiota in both wild and captive animals ( Clayton et al, 2016 ; Hale et al, 2018 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The complex diet improves gut microbiota diversity ( Hale et al, 2018 ; Dallas and Warne, 2022 ). The blossoming growth of young leaves and fruits during the rainy season and the uncertainty of provisioning increased food diversity ( Wang et al, 1994 ; Chen et al, 2019 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Seasonal variations in gut microbiota of semiprovisioned rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) living in a limestone forest of Guangxi, China

Liu

Chen

et al. 2022

Front. Microbiol.

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Assessment of gut microbiota, used to explore ecological adaptation strategies and evolutionary potential of species, provides a new viewpoint to the conservation and management of endangered animals. In this research, the gut microbiota of a group of semiprovisioned rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) living in a limestone forest exhibiting seasonal changes in plant items were studied to investigate the adaptation strategies of these macaques to this specific habitat. The findings revealed significant seasonal changes in the diversity and composition of the rhesus macaques’ gut microbiota, which were higher in the rainy season than in the dry season. In the rainy season, Bacteroidetes (31.83 ± 16.14% vs. 19.91 ± 18.20%) were significantly increased and Prevotella (23.70 ± 15.33% vs. 15.40 ± 16.10%), UCG-002 (4.48 ± 3.16% vs. 2.18 ± 2.01%), and UCG-005 (4.22 ± 2.90% vs. 2.03 ± 1.82%) were more enriched at the genus level. In the dry season, Firmicutes significantly increased (71.84 ± 19.28% vs. 60.91 ± 16.77%), and Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1 (8.45 ± 9.72% vs. 4.76 ± 6.64%), Enterococcus (10.17 ± 13.47% vs. 0.69 ± 2.36%), and Sarcina (4.72 ± 7.66% vs. 2.45 ± 4.71%) were more enriched at the genus level. These differences in gut microbiota may be due to seasonal variations in plant items in these habitats alongside changes in the provisioned foods from tourists. Additionally, deterministic processes predominate the assembly of the macaque’s gut microbiota community. This indicates that the animal’s high reliance on natural plants and provisioned foods increased the impact of deterministic processes. This study concludes that a balance between provisioned foods and natural plants might be vital in shaping the gut microbiota in the macaques. Furthermore, the dynamic adjustment in gut microbiota might be a physiological mechanism for the macaques in response to the seasonal variations in the ecological factors and food provision.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Seasonal variations in gut microbiota of semiprovisioned rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) living in a limestone forest of Guangxi, China

Liu

Chen

et al. 2022

Front. Microbiol.

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Gut microbiota of skywalker hoolock gibbons (Hoolock tianxing) from different habitats and in captivity: Implications for gibbon health

Lan

Hong

Gao

et al. 2023

American J Primatol

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The gut microbiota plays an integral role in the metabolism and immunity of animal hosts, and provides insights into the health and habitat assessment of threatened animals. The skywalker hoolock gibbon (Hoolock tianxing) is a newly described gibbon species, and is considered an endangered species. Here, we used 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing to describe the fecal bacterial community of skywalker hoolock gibbons from different habitats and in captivity. Fecal samples (n = 5) from two captive gibbons were compared with wild populations (N = 6 gibbons, n = 33 samples). At the phylum level, Spirochetes, Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes dominated in captive gibbons, while Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Tenericutes dominated in wild gibbons. At the genus level, captive gibbons were dominated by Treponema-2, followed by Succinivibrio and Cerasicoccus, while wild gibbons were dominated by Anaeroplasma, Prevotellaceae UCG-001, and Erysipelotrichaceae UCG-004. Captive rearing was significantly associated with lower taxonomic alphadiversity, and different relative abundance of some dominant bacteria compared to wild gibbons. Predicted Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analyses showed that captive gibbons have significantly lower total pathway diversity and higher relative abundance of bacterial functions involved in "drug resistance: antimicrobial" and "carbohydrate metabolism" than wild gibbons. This study reveals the potential influence of captivity and habitat on the gut bacterial community of gibbons and provides a basis for guiding the conservation management of captive populations.

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The gut microbiomes of Channel Island foxes and island spotted skunks exhibit fine‐scale differentiation across host species and island populations

Pasciullo Boychuck,

Brenner,

Gagorik

et al. 2024

Ecology and Evolution

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California's Channel Islands are home to two endemic mammalian carnivores: island foxes (Urocyon littoralis) and island spotted skunks (Spilogale gracilis amphiala). Although it is rare for two insular terrestrial carnivores to coexist, these known competitors persist on both Santa Cruz Island and Santa Rosa Island. We hypothesized that examination of their gut microbial communities would provide insight into the factors that enable this coexistence, as microbial symbionts often reflect host evolutionary history and contemporary ecology. Using rectal swabs collected from island foxes and island spotted skunks sampled across both islands, we generated 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing data to characterize their gut microbiomes. While island foxes and island spotted skunks both harbored the core mammalian microbiome, host species explained the largest proportion of variation in the dataset. We further identified intraspecific variation between island populations, with greater differentiation observed between more specialist island spotted skunk populations compared to more generalist island fox populations. This pattern may reflect differences in resource utilization following fine‐scale niche differentiation. It may further reflect evolutionary differences regarding the timing of intraspecific separation. Considered together, this study contributes to the growing catalog of wildlife microbiome studies, with important implications for understanding how eco‐evolutionary processes enable the coexistence of terrestrial carnivores–and their microbiomes–in island environments.

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Captivity and Animal Microbiomes: Potential Roles of Microbiota for Influencing Animal Conservation

Cited by 45 publications

References 264 publications

Seasonal variations in gut microbiota of semiprovisioned rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) living in a limestone forest of Guangxi, China

Seasonal variations in gut microbiota of semiprovisioned rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) living in a limestone forest of Guangxi, China

Gut microbiota of skywalker hoolock gibbons (Hoolock tianxing) from different habitats and in captivity: Implications for gibbon health

The gut microbiomes of Channel Island foxes and island spotted skunks exhibit fine‐scale differentiation across host species and island populations

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