Habitat Elevation Shapes Microbial Community Composition and Alter the Metabolic Functions in Wild Sable (Martes zibellina) Guts

Abstract

In recent decades, wild sable (Carnivora Mustelidae Martes zibellina) habitats, which are often natural forests, have been squeezed by anthropogenic disturbances such as clear-cutting, tilling and grazing. Sables tend to live in sloped areas with relatively harsh conditions. Here, we determine effects of environmental factors on wild sable gut microbial communities between high and low altitude habitats using Illumina Miseq sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA genes. Our results showed that despite wild sable gut microbial community diversity being resilient to many environmental factors, community composition was sensitive to altitude. Wild sable gut microbial communities were dominated by Firmicutes (relative abundance 38.23%), followed by Actinobacteria (30.29%), and Proteobacteria (28.15%). Altitude was negatively correlated with the abundance of Firmicutes, suggesting sable likely consume more vegetarian food in lower habitats where plant diversity, temperature and vegetation coverage were greater. In addition, our functional genes prediction and qPCR results demonstrated that energy/fat processing microorganisms and functional genes are enriched with increasing altitude, which likely enhanced metabolic functions and supported wild sables to survive in elevated habitats. Overall, our results improve the knowledge of the ecological impact of habitat change, providing insights into wild animal protection at the mountain area with hash climate conditions.

Fine-scale spatial variation shape fecal microbiome diversity and composition in black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus)

“…The gut microbial alpha diversity did not change along with a small variation in altitudinal gradient, but it partially influenced microbial beta diversity. Our results agreed with previous studies on other wild species, such as house mice (Mus musculus domesticus) [85], lizard (Phrynocephalus vlangalii) [40], macaque (Macaca thibetana) [86], and wild sable (Martes zibellina) [87], which indicatde that elevational gradient had an impact on gut microbial community composition. Several climatic conditions would explain this relationship, including oxygen concentration, ambient temperature, air pressure, and the composition of vegetation [85].…”

Fine-scale spatial variation shape fecal microbiome diversity and composition in black- tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus)

“…The gut microbial alpha diversity did not change along with a small variation in altitudinal gradient, but it partially in uenced microbial beta diversity. Our results agree with previous studies on other wild species, such as house mice (Mus musculus domesticus) [122], lizard (Phrynocephalus vlangalii) [40], macaque (Macaca thibetana) [123], and wild sable (Martes zibellina) [124], which indicate that elevational gradient had an impact on gut microbial community composition. Several climatic conditions would explain this relationship, including oxygen concentration, ambient temperature, air pressure, and the composition of vegetation [122].…”

Review of the relationship and underlying mechanisms between the Qinghai–Tibet plateau and host intestinal flora

“…In plateau pika, the abundance of Bacteroides in the intestinal tract is increased and the phylum Chlamydomonas decreases with elevation ( Li et al, 2016a ). Furthermore, the abundance of lactic acid bacteria in the intestinal tract of wild sable decreases with altitude, whereas the relative abundance of Pseudomonas increases with altitude ( Su et al, 2021 ).…”