Climate, diet, and nutrition drive gut microbiome variation in a fruit-specialist primate.

ABSTRACT: Much of what we know about drivers of mammalian gut microbiome (GM) variation focuses on limited seasonal data, or effects of dietary fiber, particularly in leaf-eating and grazing taxa. We know little about the synergistic relationships between climate, diet, nutrition, and GM dynamics in wild mammals-particularly in fruit-eating taxa. Here, we examined GM variation across 12 months in a fruit-specialist primate, the black-and-white ruffed lemur (Varecia variegata), which is known to experience substantial environmental variation in its rainforest habitat in Madagascar. We used mixed modeling approaches to estimate the effects of climate, diet, and nutrient intakes on GM alpha diversity and differential abundances. We found substantial intra- and inter-individual GM variation. Climate and

SUBMITTER: Beeby N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12218497 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature