Land-use change has host-specific influences on avian gut microbiomes

Abstract

Human modification of the environment, particularly through land-use change, often reduces animal species diversity. However, the effect of land-use change on the gut microbiome of wildlife in human-dominated landscapes is not well understood despite its potential consequences for host health. We sought to quantify the effect of land-use change on wild bird gut microbiomes in a countryside landscape in Costa Rica, comprising a range of habitat types, ranging from primary and secondary forests to diversified and monoculture farms. We collected 280 fresh fecal samples from individuals belonging to six common species of saltator, thrushes, and warblers at 24 sites across this land-use gradient. Through 16S rRNA community profiling, we found that bacterial species composition responded to host species identity more strongly than to habitat type. In addition, we found evidence that habitat type affected microbial composition only for two of the six bird species. Our findings indicate that some host species and their microbiota may be more vulnerable to human disturbances than others.

Species-specific but not phylosymbiotic gut microbiomes of New Guinean passerine birds are shaped by diet and flight-associated gut modifications

“…Furthermore, pairwise comparisons of M. versteri microbiomes (Bray-Curtis) did not reveal significant differences between S10b). There was no significant effect of sampling locality for any of the remaining eleven species for either of the distance matrices (electronic supplementary material, figure S11), suggesting that locality does not strongly impact passerine gut microbiomes at the species-level, contradicting several previous studies [21,23,24].…”

“…These modifications could potentially affect the stability of avian gut microbial communities [10], because shorter gut retention leads to more fluctuating gut environments and potentially higher microbial turnover. Bird microbiomes are also highly variable between individuals of the same bird species [19][20][21] and tend to be malleable to dietary and environmental changes [19,[21][22][23][24][25][26]. Consequently, diet tends to affect gut microbiomes more than host phylogeny [17].…”

Effects of Sex and Diet on Gut Microbiota of Farmland-Dependent Wintering Birds

“…The two wintering sites indeed have geographic differences, which might influence differently the gut microbiota of Great Bustards. However, the effect of geographic location on differences in gut microbiota have been attributed on changes of food availability ( San Juan et al, 2020 ), suggesting changes in microbiota communities could be more sensitive to dietary shifts rather than location ( Capunitan et al, 2020 ). Differences in relative protein, fat, and fiber content may cause changes of microbiota composition and diversity ( Clarke et al, 2014 ).…”

Covariation of the Fecal Microbiome with Diet in Nonpasserine Birds

“…The dynamic gut microecological system that formed in the adaption of birds to their environment is influenced by many factors, such as sex, reproductive status, age, geography, environment, human activity, and social structure (9,(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23). The dominant drivers of gut microbiome diversity in birds appear to be host evolutionary history and diet (10).…”