Land cover and forest connectivity alter the interactions among host, pathogen and skin microbiome.

ABSTRACT: Deforestation has detrimental consequences on biodiversity, affecting species interactions at multiple scales. The associations among vertebrates, pathogens and their commensal/symbiotic microbial communities (i.e. microbiomes) have important downstream effects for biodiversity conservation, yet we know little about how deforestation contributes to changes in host microbial diversity and pathogen abundance. Here, we tested the effects of landcover, forest connectivity and infection by the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) on amphibian skin bacterial diversity along deforestation gradients in Brazilian landscapes. If disturbance to natural habitat alters skin microbiomes as it does in vertebrate host communities, then we would expect higher host bacterial dive

SUBMITTER: Becker CG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5577473 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature