Social, environmental, and developmental factors affect the microbiota of barn owls (Tyto alba) in a cross-fostering experiment.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Species host diverse microbial communities that can impact their digestion and health, which has led to much interest in understanding the factors that influence their microbiota. We studied the developmental, environmental, and social factors that influence the microbiota of nestling barn owls (Tyto alba) through a partial cross-fostering experiment that manipulated the social and nest environment of the nestlings. We then examined the nestling microbiota before and three weeks after the exchange of nestlings between nests, along with the microbiota of the adults at the nest and nestlings in unmanipulated nests.

Results

We found that nestlings had higher bacterial diversity and different bacterial communities than adults. The microbiota of nestlings was more like

SUBMITTER: Corl A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11667991 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature