Metabarcoding of fecal pellets in wild muskox populations reveals negative relationships between microbiome and diet alpha diversity.

ABSTRACT: Microbiome diversity and diet composition concomitantly influence species health, fitness, immunity, and digestion. In environments where diet varies spatially and temporally, microbiome plasticity may promote rapid host adaptation to available resources. For northern ungulates in particular, metabarcoding of noninvasively collected fecal pellets presents unprecedented insights into their diverse ecological requirements and niches by clarifying the interrelationships of microbiomes, key to deriving nutrients, in context of altered forage availability in changing climates. Muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) are Arctic-adapted species that experience fluctuating qualities and quantities of vegetation. Geography and seasonality have been noted to influence microbiome composition and diversity

SUBMITTER: Prewer E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10261903 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature