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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Artículo científico |
| Language: | en |
| Published: |
ISME communications
2025
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| Online Access: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40901273/ |
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Table of Contents:
- Gut microbiome communities demonstrate fine-scale spatial variation in a closed, island bird population. Worsley, Sarah F Lee, Chuen Zhang Versteegh, Maaike A Burke, Terry Komdeur, Jan Dugdale, Hannah L Richardson, David S Environmental variation is a key factor shaping microbial communities in wild animals. However, most studies have focussed on separate populations distributed over large spatial scales. How ecological factors shape inter-individual microbiome variation within a single landscape and host population remains poorly understood. Here, we use dense sampling of individuals in a natural, closed population of Seychelles warblers () on Cousin Island (300 m, microbiome composition became increasingly similar amongst individuals situated on different sides of the island. This relationship was robust to the effects of host relatedness, age, and sex. Further analysis showed that microbiome composition differed between individuals inhabiting coastal and inland territories. Warblers in coastal territories harboured greater abundances of marine bacteria and lower abundances of anaerobic taxa commonly linked to host metabolic health, suggesting that exposure to different environmental microbes and variation in host condition (which is lower in coastal territories) could drive spatial patterns of gut microbiome variation across the island. This work demonstrates that host-microbe interactions can be labile even at very fine spatial scales. Such variability may have implications for how species respond to anthropogenic disturbance in wild habitats.