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Wang Z, Martin A, Brunton D, Grueter CC, Qu J, He JS, Ji W, Nan Z. The effects of grassland degradation on the genetic structure of a small mammal. Integr Zool 2024. [PMID: 38704846 DOI: 10.1111/1749-4877.12836] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/07/2024]
Abstract
Grassland degradation is challenging the health of grassland ecosystems globally and causing biodiversity decline. Previous studies have demonstrated the impact of grassland degradation on the abundance and behavior of small mammals. Little is known about how it affects the genetic structure of gregarious mammals in the wild. This study explores the effects of grassland degradation on the genetic structure of a small burrowing mammal, plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae). We used nine microsatellite loci to analyze the genetic diversity and genetic differentiation between colonies and genetic relatedness between individuals within the colony. We found that pikas in severely degraded grasslands had a significantly higher genetic diversity within colonies, a higher level of gene flow between colonies, and a lower genetic differentiation between colonies compared to pikas in less degraded grasslands. Individuals within colonies had a significantly lower genetic relatedness in severely degraded grasslands than in less degraded grasslands. This study has provided potential evidence of a significant impact of grassland degradation on the genetic structure of pikas, which has caused a breakdown of their kin-selected colony structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zaiwei Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Amy Martin
- Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research, Lincoln, New Zealand
| | - Dianne Brunton
- School of Natural Sciences (SNS), Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Cyril C Grueter
- Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Human Biology, School of Human Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
- International Centre of Biodiversity and Primate Conservation, Dali University, Dali, China
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Jiapeng Qu
- Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, China
- Qinghai Province Key Laboratory of Animal Ecological Genomics, Xining, China
| | - Jin-Sheng He
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
- Institute of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Weihong Ji
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
- School of Natural Sciences (SNS), Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Zhibiao Nan
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
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Phylogeography of the Plateau Pika (Ochotona curzoniae) in Response to the Uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. DIVERSITY 2023. [DOI: 10.3390/d15020307] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/22/2023]
Abstract
The evolution and current distribution of species on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau have been significantly impacted by historical occurrences, including the uplift of the plateau and the Quaternary climate upheaval. As a remnant species, the plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) is a great model for researching historical events. In this study, 302 samples from 42 sample sites were utilized to analyze the impact of historical events on the evolution and distribution pattern of plateau pikas. The genetic diversity, patterns of differentiation, and historical dynamics of the plateau pika were investigated using molecular markers that included four mitochondrial genes (COI, D-loop, Cytb, and 12S rRNA) and three nuclear genes (GHR, IRBP, and RAG1). The results showed that: (1) The genetic diversity of the plateau pika was high in the Tibetan Plateau (Hd = 0.9997, π = 0.01205), and the plateau pika evolved into five lineages that occupied different geographical areas, with lineage 1 (Group 1) in the south of the Yarlung Zangbo River, lineage 2 (Group 2) in the hinterland of the plateau, lineage 3 (Group 3) in the northeastern part of the plateau, lineage 4 (Group 4) in the Hengduan Mountains, and lineage 5 (Group 5) in the eastern part of the plateau. (2) The gene flow among the five lineages was low, and the differentiation level was high (Nm < 0.25; Fst > 0.25), indicating that the geographical barriers between the five lineages, such as the Yarlung Zangbo River, the Qaidam-Ghuong-Guide Basin, and the Lancang River, effectively promoted the population differentiation of the plateau pika. (3) The plateau pika first spread from the Hengduan Mountains to the entire Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and then conducted small-scale migration and dispersal in several refuges across the plateau in response to climate changes during the glacial and interglacial periods. (4) Except for Group 1 and Group 4, all the other populations exhibited a rapid expansion between 0.06 and 0.01 Mya, but the expansion was considerably delayed or halted by the effects of climate change during the last glacial maximum (0.02 Mya). Overall, the plateau pika on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau exhibits high genetic diversity, and topographic obstacles, including mountains, valleys, and basins, created by the uplift of the plateau and climatic changes since the Quaternary period have played an important role in the differentiation and historical dynamics of the plateau pika population.
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Social complexity in plateau pikas, Ochotona curzoniae. Anim Behav 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.11.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Fan C, Zhang L, Jia S, Tang X, Fu H, Li W, Liu C, Zhang H, Cheng Q, Zhang Y. Seasonal variations in the composition and functional profiles of gut microbiota reflect dietary changes in plateau pikas. Integr Zool 2022; 17:379-395. [PMID: 35051309 PMCID: PMC9305894 DOI: 10.1111/1749-4877.12630] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Seasonal variations in gut microbiota of small mammals and how it is influenced by environmental variables is relatively poorly understood. We sampled 162 wild plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae) in four seasons over two and a half years and recorded the air temperature, precipitation, and nutrient content in edible vegetation at the sampling site. After conducting 16S rRNA and shotgun metagenomic sequencing, we found that the highest alpha diversity, the relative abundance of Firmicutes, and the simplest co-occurrence network occurred in winter, whereas that the highest relative abundance of Proteobacteria and the most complex network structure was observed in spring. The highest relative abundance of Verrucomicrobiota and Spirochaetota were seen in summer and autumn, respectively. Air temperature, precipitation, and the contents of crude protein, crude fiber, and polysaccharide in vegetation had significant effects on the seasonal changes in gut microbiota. Diet contributed more to microbial variation than climatic factors. Metagenomic analysis revealed that the amino acid metabolism pathway and axillary activity enzymes were most abundant in summer, while abundance of carbohydrate-binding modules and carbohydrate esterases were highest in spring. These microbial variations were related to the changes in dietary nutrition, indicating that gut microbiota of plateau pika contribute to the efficient use of food resources. This study provides new evidence of how external environmental factors affect the intestinal environment of small mammals. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chao Fan
- Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008, China.,College of Life Sciences, Qufu Normal University, Qufu, 273165, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Liangzhi Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008, China.,Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Ecological Genomics, Xining, 810008, China
| | - Shangang Jia
- College of Grassland Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China
| | - Xianjiang Tang
- Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008, China.,Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Ecological Genomics, Xining, 810008, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Haibo Fu
- Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008, China.,Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Ecological Genomics, Xining, 810008, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Wenjing Li
- Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008, China.,Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Ecological Genomics, Xining, 810008, China
| | - Chuanfa Liu
- Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008, China.,Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Ecological Genomics, Xining, 810008, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - He Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008, China.,Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Ecological Genomics, Xining, 810008, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Qi Cheng
- Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008, China.,Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Ecological Genomics, Xining, 810008, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Yanming Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008, China.,Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Ecological Genomics, Xining, 810008, China
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Schai-Braun SC, Steiger P, Ruf T, Arnold W, Hackländer K. Maternal effects on reproduction in the precocial European hare (Lepus europaeus). PLoS One 2021; 16:e0247174. [PMID: 33596263 PMCID: PMC7888652 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0247174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2020] [Accepted: 02/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
In female mammals, reproduction, and in particular lactation, is the energetically most exigent life-history phase. Reproduction is strongly controlled by body reserves and food availability, so females with better body condition or food supply are believed to have higher reproductive output. Additionally, the growth and mortality of young mammals depends on their postnatal development. Therefore, the degree of precociality affects energetic demands for both mothers and young. To study the reproductive performance of the precocial European hare (Lepus europaeus), we analysed relationships between six predictor variables describing maternal and environmental effects and nine response variables relating to reproduction from 217 captive females. We compared the data with those of precocial and altricial mammal species from an extensive literature search. For hares, we found: (1) Heavier females had heavier litters at birth. (2) In summer and spring, total litter mass was larger than in winter. (3) At the end of lactation, the litters of multiparous females were heavier than those of primiparous females. (4) Both older females and females giving birth for the first time had relatively high leveret mortality during lactation. Comparing our results with the literature for other mammals revealed that the body condition (i.e., body mass) of females before birth is predictive of reproductive parameters in both precocial and altricial species. In the precocial hare, female body condition is no longer predictive of reproductive parameters at the end of lactation, whereas in altricial species, female body condition remains predictive of reproduction (litter mass at the end of lactation, offspring mortality) until the end of lactation. We conclude that these effects are caused by precocial offspring feeding on solid food soon after birth and, thus, being less dependent on the mother's body condition during lactation than altricial offspring. In line with this, precociality might have evolved as a way of buffering offspring against maternal effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stéphanie C. Schai-Braun
- Institute of Wildlife Biology and Game Management, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Peter Steiger
- Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
| | - Thomas Ruf
- Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
| | - Walter Arnold
- Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
| | - Klaus Hackländer
- Institute of Wildlife Biology and Game Management, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
- Deutsche Wildtier Stiftung—German Wildlife Foundation, Hamburg, Germany
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Wang Y, Zhang X, Sun Y, Chang S, Wang Z, Li G, Hou F. Pika burrow and zokor mound density and their relationship with grazing management and sheep production in alpine meadow. Ecosphere 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Yingxin Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro‐ecosystems; Key Laboratory of Grassland Livestock Industry Innovation Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology Lanzhou University Lanzhou 730020 China
| | - Xinglu Zhang
- College of Forestry Gansu Agricultural University Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Arid Land Crop Science Lanzhou 730070 Gansu China
| | - Yi Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro‐ecosystems; Key Laboratory of Grassland Livestock Industry Innovation Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology Lanzhou University Lanzhou 730020 China
| | - Shenghua Chang
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro‐ecosystems; Key Laboratory of Grassland Livestock Industry Innovation Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology Lanzhou University Lanzhou 730020 China
| | - Zhaofeng Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro‐ecosystems; Key Laboratory of Grassland Livestock Industry Innovation Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology Lanzhou University Lanzhou 730020 China
| | - Guang Li
- College of Forestry Gansu Agricultural University Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Arid Land Crop Science Lanzhou 730070 Gansu China
| | - Fujiang Hou
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro‐ecosystems; Key Laboratory of Grassland Livestock Industry Innovation Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology Lanzhou University Lanzhou 730020 China
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Qu J, Réale D, Fletcher QE, Zhang Y. Among-population divergence in personality is linked to altitude in plateau pikas ( Ochotona curzoniae ). Front Zool 2019; 16:26. [PMID: 31320918 PMCID: PMC6615196 DOI: 10.1186/s12983-019-0329-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2019] [Accepted: 07/01/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Animals inhabiting high altitudes consistently show slow life-histories. The pace-of-life syndrome (POLS) hypothesis posits behavioural, physiological and/or morphological traits that mediate the trade-off between current and future reproduction or survival, which have coevolved along a slow-fast life history continuum. Previous studies have shown that the life histories of plateau pikas varied across altitude, high-altitude individuals showed slow pace of life which were characterized by few litters per year with small litter sizes. Thus, we hypothesized that pikas populations at higher altitudes would also express personalities characteristic associated with slow life history, such as high sociability, low activity or aggressiveness. We tested this hypothesis by comparing the activity and docility of three plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) populations distributed along an altitudinal gradient of the Tibetan Plateau. We predicted that high-altitude pika would be more docile and less active. RESULTS The behaviour of 556 pikas, from which 120 individuals were measured at least twice, was quantified. We observed that plateau pikas at high altitudes were less active and more docile than pika at lower altitudes. Activity and docility were significantly and negatively correlated in populations from high altitudes but not in populations from low altitudes. CONCLUSIONS Our results support the POLS hypothesis, highlight the existence of personality variation among populations distributed along an altitudinal gradient and emphasise the importance of environmental selection on personality divergence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiapeng Qu
- Key laboratory of adaptation and evolution of plateau biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qinghai, 810008 China
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems SKLGAE, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000 China
- Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Ecological Genomics, Qinghai, 810008 China
| | - Denis Réale
- Département des Sciences Biologiques, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC H3P 3P8 Canada
| | - Quinn E. Fletcher
- Department of Biology and Centre for Forest Interdisciplinary Research (C-FIR), University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB R3B 2E9 Canada
| | - Yanming Zhang
- Key laboratory of adaptation and evolution of plateau biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qinghai, 810008 China
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Paruchuri S, Smith AT, Fan Z, Dobson FS. Microhabitat use by plateau pikas: living on the edge. J Mammal 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyz085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
AbstractMammals rely on habitat resources for survival and reproduction. We studied microhabitats used by plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae) of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Microhabitat features used by pikas include sedge meadows that provide forage, burrows that provide safety from predators and cover for nests, degraded open-dirt patches, and edges between sedge meadow and open dirt patches that often have a “lip” between those microhabitats. We investigated the extent to which these edges might serve as a preferred pika microhabitat. GIS techniques were used to overlay individual pika home ranges, determined by focal and scan sampling, on a digitized map containing microhabitat features. Regions that contained multiple coinciding individual home ranges, referred to as overlap polygons, were categorized numerically based on the number of individual home ranges that overlapped each polygon. These overlap polygons were used as relative measures of pika activity. We tested the spatial relationship between pika activity and the microhabitat features of edges, burrows, and proportional area of sedge. There was a significant relationship between the number of pikas in an overlap polygon and the number of pikas in an adjacent polygon. This pattern was controlled statistically to test whether activity was influenced by the presence of potentially favorable microhabitat features. Most of the variation in number of pikas that overlapped a habitat polygon was associated with the relative amount of “edge microhabitat” between sedge meadow and degraded open dirt patches (Cohen’s effect size, f2 = 0.91). Neither burrow openings nor sedge had a strong influence on the number of pika home ranges that overlapped. The importance of microhabitat edges appeared high for plateau pikas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Spurthi Paruchuri
- Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
| | - Andrew T Smith
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Zhaofei Fan
- School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
| | - F Stephen Dobson
- Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
- Auburn University Museum of Natural History, Auburn, AL, USA
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Pang XP, Guo ZG. Response of leaf traits of common plants in alpine meadow to plateau pika disturbance. RANGELAND JOURNAL 2018. [DOI: 10.1071/rj17089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Leaf traits have been proven to reflect the adaptation of individual plants to disturbance environments in a grassland ecosystem. A field survey was conducted to investigate the effects of the disturbance intensity of plateau pika on the leaf traits of a dominant (Kobresia pygmaea) and two common plants (Elymus nutans and Anemone rivularis var. flore-minore) in an alpine meadow. This study indicated that the plateau pika disturbance enables the individuals of three plants to exhibit respective plasticity because the three plants had different leaf indices (LI) as the disturbance intensity increased. K. pygmaea, E. nutans and A. rivularis var. flore-minore had high specific leaf area (SLA), leaf dry mass content (LDMC), and leaf nitrogen content (LNC) at relatively low, moderate, and high disturbance intensities of plateau pika, respectively. K. pygmaea, E. nutans and A. rivularis var. flore-minore suffered low nutrient stress at low, moderate and high disturbance intensities due to high N : P at corresponding disturbance intensities. These results indicated that K. pygmaea, E. nutans and A. rivularis var. flore-minore grew well at relatively low, moderate, and high disturbance intensity conditions, respectively, which contributed to the improvement of alpine meadows with a higher proportion of E. nutans at a moderate disturbance intensity or the deterioration of alpine meadows with a higher proportion of A. rivularis var. flore-minore at a high disturbance intensity. Our findings suggest that leaf traits are effective tools to explain how small burrowing herbivore disturbances often lead to the improvement or deterioration of alpine meadows under different disturbance intensities.
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Five-year population dynamics of plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae) on the east of Tibetan Plateau. EUR J WILDLIFE RES 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s10344-017-1109-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Li H, Qu J, Li T, Li J, Lin Q, Li X. Pika Population Density Is Associated with the Composition and Diversity of Gut Microbiota. Front Microbiol 2016; 7:758. [PMID: 27242770 PMCID: PMC4870984 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.00758] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2016] [Accepted: 05/05/2016] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Host population density is positively associated with the strength of social interactions or the frequency of physical contacts, and thus potentially influences microbial transmission among individuals. However, the relationship between host density and gut microbiota remains unknown. Here, we characterized the gut microbiota of plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae) in wild experimental fields with different host population densities. The abundance of some gut microbes significantly correlated with host density, such as Ruminococcaceae, Lachnospiraceae, and Staphylococcaceae. Intriguingly, host density was positively correlated with alpha diversity (Shannon diversity and observed species) of gut microbial communities. The inter-individual gut microbiota within high-density groups were more similar to each other than those of low-density groups. Host density significantly explained the variations in the gut microbiota, even after controlling sex, weight, diet and geographical locations. Based on the PICRUSt metagenome prediction, positive correlations were observed between host density and the relative abundances of 12 gene functions involved in cellular processes, environmental information processing and metabolism. These results indicate the importance of host density as a factor in shaping gut microbial composition and diversity in plateau pikas, and may further help us understand the social transmission of gut microbiota.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huan Li
- Key Laboratory of Environmental and Applied Microbiology, Environmental Microbiology Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of SciencesChengdu, China
- University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China
| | - Jiapeng Qu
- Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of SciencesXining, Qinghai, China
| | - Tongtong Li
- Key Laboratory of Environmental and Applied Microbiology, Environmental Microbiology Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of SciencesChengdu, China
| | - Jiabao Li
- Key Laboratory of Environmental and Applied Microbiology, Environmental Microbiology Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of SciencesChengdu, China
| | - Qiang Lin
- Key Laboratory of Environmental and Applied Microbiology, Environmental Microbiology Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of SciencesChengdu, China
| | - Xiangzhen Li
- Key Laboratory of Environmental and Applied Microbiology, Environmental Microbiology Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of SciencesChengdu, China
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Qu J, Li W, Yang M, Ji W, Zhang Y. Life history of the plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) in alpine meadows of the Tibetan Plateau. Mamm Biol 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/j.mambio.2012.09.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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