Global change-driven use of onshore habitat impacts polar bear faecal microbiota.

ABSTRACT: The gut microbiota plays a critical role in host health, yet remains poorly studied in wild species. Polar bears (Ursus maritimus), key indicators of Arctic ecosystem health and environmental change, are currently affected by rapid shifts in habitat that may alter gut homeostasis. Declining sea ice has led to a divide in the southern Beaufort Sea polar bear subpopulation such that an increasing proportion of individuals now inhabit onshore coastal regions during the open-water period ('onshore bears') while others continue to exhibit their typical behaviour of remaining on the ice ('offshore bears'). We propose that bears that have altered their habitat selection in response to climate change will exhibit a distinct gut microbiota diversity and composition, which may ultimately have import

SUBMITTER: Watson SE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6864082 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature