Seasonal Shifts in Diet and Gut Microbiota of the American Bison (Bison bison).

ABSTRACT: North American bison (Bison bison) are becoming increasingly important to both grassland management and commercial ranching. However, a lack of quantitative data on their diet constrains conservation efforts and the ability to predict bison effects on grasslands. In particular, we know little about the seasonality of the bison diet, the degree to which bison supplement their diet with eudicots, and how changes in diet influence gut microbial communities, all of which play important roles in ungulate performance. To address these knowledge gaps, we quantified seasonal patterns in bison diet and gut microbial community composition for a bison herd in Kansas using DNA sequencing-based analyses of both chloroplast and microbial DNA contained in fecal matter. Across the 11 sampling dates that s

SUBMITTER: Bergmann GT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4642958 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature