Dataset Information

Linking microbiome and stress hormone responses in wild tropical treefrogs across continuous and fragmented forests.

ABSTRACT: The amphibian skin microbiome is an important component of anti-pathogen defense, but the impact of environmental change on the link between microbiome composition and host stress remains unclear. In this study, we used radiotelemetry and host translocation to track microbiome composition and function, pathogen infection, and host stress over time across natural movement paths for the forest-associated treefrog, Boana faber. We found a negative correlation between cortisol levels and putative microbiome function for frogs translocated to forest fragments, indicating strong integration of host stress response and anti-pathogen potential of the microbiome. Additionally, we observed a capacity for resilience (resistance to structural change and functional loss) in the amphibian skin microbiome, with maintenance of putative pathogen-inhibitory function despite major temporal shifts in microbiome composition. Although microbiome community composition did not return to baseline during the study period, the rate of microbiome change indicated that forest fragmentation had more pronounced effects on microbiome composition than translocation alone. Our findings reveal associations between stress hormones and host microbiome defenses, with implications for resilience of amphibians and their associated microbes facing accelerated tropical deforestation.

SUBMITTER: Neely WJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10716138 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Linking microbiome and stress hormone responses in wild tropical treefrogs across continuous and fragmented forests.

Neely Wesley J WJ Martins Renato A RA Mendonça da Silva Camila M CM Ferreira da Silva Tainá T Fleck Lucas E LE Whetstone Ross D RD Woodhams Douglas C DC Cook W Harrison WH Prist Paula R PR Valiati Victor H VH Greenspan Sasha E SE Tozetti Alexandro M AM Earley Ryan L RL Becker C Guilherme CG

Communications biology 20231212 1

The amphibian skin microbiome is an important component of anti-pathogen defense, but the impact of environmental change on the link between microbiome composition and host stress remains unclear. In this study, we used radiotelemetry and host translocation to track microbiome composition and function, pathogen infection, and host stress over time across natural movement paths for the forest-associated treefrog, Boana faber. We found a negative correlation between cortisol levels and putative mi ...[more]

PMID: 38087051

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Project description:A decline in species number often occurs after forest fragmentation and habitat loss, which usually results in the loss of ecological functions and a reduction in functional diversity in the forest fragments. However, it is uncertain whether these lost ecological functions are consistently maintained throughout continuous forests, and so the importance of these functions in continuous forests remains unknown. Point counts were used to assess both the taxonomic and functional diversity of specialist and generalist birds from sampling in a continuous primary forest compared with forest fragments in order to investigate the responses of these groups to forest fragmentation. We also measured alpha and beta diversity. The responses of specialists and generalists were similar when we assessed all bird species but were different when only passerines were considered. When examining passerines we found lower total taxonomic beta diversity for specialists than for generalists in the continuous forest, while taxonomic beta diversity was higher in the fragmented forest and similar between bird groups. However, total functional beta-diversity values indicated clearly higher trait regularity in continuous forest for specialists and higher trait regularity in fragments for generalists. Specialists showed significantly higher functional alpha diversity in comparison with generalists in the continuous forest, while both groups showed similar values in fragments. In passerines, species richness and alpha functional diversity of both specialist and generalist were explained by forest connectivity; but, only fragment size explained those parameters for specialist passerines. We suggest that considering subsets of the community with high similarity among species, as passerines, provides a better tool for understanding responses to forest fragmentation. Due to the regularity of specialists in continuous forest, their lost could highly affect functionality in forest fragments.

Dataset Information

Linking microbiome and stress hormone responses in wild tropical treefrogs across continuous and fragmented forests.

Publications

Linking microbiome and stress hormone responses in wild tropical treefrogs across continuous and fragmented forests.

Similar Datasets

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