Treating cattle with antibiotics affects greenhouse gas emissions, and microbiota in dung and dung beetles.

ABSTRACT: Antibiotics are routinely used to improve livestock health and growth. However, this practice may have unintended environmental impacts mediated by interactions among the wide range of micro- and macroorganisms found in agroecosystems. For example, antibiotics may alter microbial emissions of greenhouse gases by affecting livestock gut microbiota. Furthermore, antibiotics may affect the microbiota of non-target animals that rely on dung, such as dung beetles, and the ecosystem services they provide. To examine these interactions, we treated cattle with a commonly used broad-spectrum antibiotic and assessed downstream effects on microbiota in dung and dung beetles, greenhouse gas fluxes from dung, and beetle size, survival and reproduction. We found that antibiotic treatment restructured mi

SUBMITTER: Hammer TJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4892788 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature