Human encroachment into wildlife gut microbiomes

Abstract

Fackelmann et al. study the gut microbial composition of spiny rats across tropical forests in Panama with varying levels of protection and fragmentation in order to disentangle the relative influences of habitat fragmentation and anthropogenic disturbance on wildlife gut microbiomes. They find that habitat fragmentation on its own did not affect the gut microbiome, but the microbiomes of individuals inhabiting forest fragments affected by anthropogenic disturbance displayed a shift in community composition and structure, and were more likely to have microbiota associated with domesticated animals and their pathogens.