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Pasciullo Boychuck S, Brenner LJ, Gagorik CN, Schamel JT, Baker S, Tran E, vonHoldt BM, Koepfli K, Maldonado JE, DeCandia AL. The gut microbiomes of Channel Island foxes and island spotted skunks exhibit fine-scale differentiation across host species and island populations. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e11017. [PMID: 38362164 PMCID: PMC10867392 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2023] [Revised: 12/09/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 02/17/2024] Open
Abstract
California's Channel Islands are home to two endemic mammalian carnivores: island foxes (Urocyon littoralis) and island spotted skunks (Spilogale gracilis amphiala). Although it is rare for two insular terrestrial carnivores to coexist, these known competitors persist on both Santa Cruz Island and Santa Rosa Island. We hypothesized that examination of their gut microbial communities would provide insight into the factors that enable this coexistence, as microbial symbionts often reflect host evolutionary history and contemporary ecology. Using rectal swabs collected from island foxes and island spotted skunks sampled across both islands, we generated 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing data to characterize their gut microbiomes. While island foxes and island spotted skunks both harbored the core mammalian microbiome, host species explained the largest proportion of variation in the dataset. We further identified intraspecific variation between island populations, with greater differentiation observed between more specialist island spotted skunk populations compared to more generalist island fox populations. This pattern may reflect differences in resource utilization following fine-scale niche differentiation. It may further reflect evolutionary differences regarding the timing of intraspecific separation. Considered together, this study contributes to the growing catalog of wildlife microbiome studies, with important implications for understanding how eco-evolutionary processes enable the coexistence of terrestrial carnivores-and their microbiomes-in island environments.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Elton Tran
- Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyPrinceton UniversityPrincetonNew JerseyUSA
| | | | - Klaus‐Peter Koepfli
- Center for Species SurvivalSmithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology InstituteFront RoyalVirginiaUSA
- Smithsonian‐Mason School of ConservationGeorge Mason UniversityFront RoyalVirginiaUSA
| | - Jesús E. Maldonado
- Center for Conservation GenomicsSmithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology InstituteWashingtonDCUSA
| | - Alexandra L. DeCandia
- Biology, Georgetown UniversityWashingtonDCUSA
- Center for Conservation GenomicsSmithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology InstituteWashingtonDCUSA
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Daly EZ, Chabrerie O, Massol F, Facon B, Hess MC, Tasiemski A, Grandjean F, Chauvat M, Viard F, Forey E, Folcher L, Buisson E, Boivin T, Baltora‐Rosset S, Ulmer R, Gibert P, Thiébaut G, Pantel JH, Heger T, Richardson DM, Renault D. A synthesis of biological invasion hypotheses associated with the introduction–naturalisation–invasion continuum. OIKOS 2023. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.09645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Ella Z. Daly
- Univ. of Rennes, CNRS, ECOBIO (Ecosystèmes, Biodiversité, Evolution), UMR 6553 Rennes France
| | - Olivier Chabrerie
- Univ. de Picardie Jules Verne, UMR 7058 CNRS EDYSAN Amiens Cedex 1 France
| | - Francois Massol
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, Inserm, CHU Lille, Inst. Pasteur de Lille, U1019 – UMR 9017 – CIIL – Center for Infection and Immunity of Lille Lille France
| | - Benoit Facon
- CBGP, INRAE, CIRAD, IRD, Montpellier Institut Agro, Univ. Montpellier Montpellier France
| | - Manon C.M. Hess
- Inst. Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d'Ecologie Marine et Continentale (IMBE), UMR: Aix Marseille Univ., Avignon Université, CNRS, IRD France
- Inst. de Recherche pour la Conservation des zones Humides Méditerranéennes Tour du Valat, Le Sambuc Arles France
| | - Aurélie Tasiemski
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, Inserm, CHU Lille, Inst. Pasteur de Lille, U1019 – UMR 9017 – CIIL – Center for Infection and Immunity of Lille Lille France
| | - Frédéric Grandjean
- Univ. de Poitiers, UMR CNRS 7267 EBI‐Ecologie et Biologie des Interactions, équipe EES Poitiers Cedex 09 France
| | | | | | - Estelle Forey
- Normandie Univ., UNIROUEN, INRAE, USC ECODIV Rouen France
| | - Laurent Folcher
- ANSES – Agence Nationale de Sécurité Sanitaire de l'Alimentation, de l'Environnement et du Travail, Laboratoire de la Santé des Végétaux – Unité de Nématologie Le Rheu France
| | - Elise Buisson
- Inst. Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d'Ecologie Marine et Continentale (IMBE), UMR: Aix Marseille Univ., Avignon Université, CNRS, IRD France
| | - Thomas Boivin
- INRAE, UR629 Écologie des Forêts Méditerranéennes, Centre de Recherche Provence‐Alpes‐Côte d'Azur Avignon France
| | | | - Romain Ulmer
- Univ. de Picardie Jules Verne, UMR 7058 CNRS EDYSAN Amiens Cedex 1 France
| | - Patricia Gibert
- UMR 5558 CNRS – Univ. Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, Bât. Gregor Mendel Villeurbanne Cedex France
| | - Gabrielle Thiébaut
- Univ. of Rennes, CNRS, ECOBIO (Ecosystèmes, Biodiversité, Evolution), UMR 6553 Rennes France
| | - Jelena H. Pantel
- Ecological Modelling, Faculty of Biology, Univ. of Duisburg‐Essen Essen Germany
| | - Tina Heger
- Leibniz Inst. of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) Berlin Germany
- Technical Univ. of Munich, Restoration Ecology Freising Germany
| | - David M. Richardson
- Centre for Invasion Biology, Dept. Botany & Zoology, Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch South Africa
- Inst. of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences Průhonice Czech Republic
| | - David Renault
- Univ. of Rennes, CNRS, ECOBIO (Ecosystèmes, Biodiversité, Evolution), UMR 6553 Rennes France
- Inst. Universitaire de France Paris Cedex 05 France
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Malyutina Y, Wilson GWT, Duell EB, Loss SR. Effects of native and non-native earthworms on grassland plant communities and abundance of associated arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Biol Invasions 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10530-022-02926-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Longcore T, Noujdina N, Dixon PJ. Landscape Modeling of the Potential Natural Vegetation of Santa Catalina Island, California. WEST N AM NATURALIST 2018. [DOI: 10.3398/064.078.0406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Peter J. Dixon
- Catalina Island Conservancy, 330 Golden Shore, #170, Long Beach, CA 90802
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Paudel S, Benavides JC, MacDonald B, Longcore T, Wilson GWT, Loss SR. Determinants of native and non-native plant community structure on an oceanic island. Ecosphere 2017. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.1927] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Shishir Paudel
- Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management; Oklahoma State University; Stillwater Oklahoma 74078 USA
| | - Juan C. Benavides
- Department of Ecology and Territory; Pontifical Xavierian University; Bogota 11032 Colombia
| | - Beau MacDonald
- Spatial Sciences Institute; University of Southern California; Los Angeles California 90089 USA
- The Urban Wildlands Group; P.O. Box 24020 Los Angeles California 90024 USA
| | - Travis Longcore
- Spatial Sciences Institute; University of Southern California; Los Angeles California 90089 USA
- The Urban Wildlands Group; P.O. Box 24020 Los Angeles California 90024 USA
- School of Architecture; University of Southern California; Los Angeles California 90089 USA
| | - Gail W. T. Wilson
- Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management; Oklahoma State University; Stillwater Oklahoma 74078 USA
| | - Scott R. Loss
- Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management; Oklahoma State University; Stillwater Oklahoma 74078 USA
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Nuzzo V, Dávalos A, Blossey B. Assessing plant community composition fails to capture impacts of white-tailed deer on native and invasive plant species. AOB PLANTS 2017; 9:plx026. [PMID: 28775829 PMCID: PMC5534022 DOI: 10.1093/aobpla/plx026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2016] [Accepted: 06/06/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Excessive herbivory can have transformative effects on forest understory vegetation, converting diverse communities into depauperate ones, often with increased abundance of non-native plants. White-tailed deer are a problematic herbivore throughout much of eastern North America and alter forest understory community structure. Reducing (by culling) or eliminating (by fencing) deer herbivory is expected to return understory vegetation to a previously diverse condition. We examined this assumption from 1992 to 2006 at Fermilab (Batavia, IL) where a cull reduced white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) abundance in 1998/1999 by 90 % from 24.6 to 2.5/km2, and at West Point, NY, where we assessed interactive effects of deer, earthworms, and invasive plants using 30 × 30 m paired fenced and open plots in 12 different forests from 2009 to 2012. We recorded not only plant community responses (species presence and cover) within 1 m2 quadrats, but also responses of select individual species (growth, reproduction). At Fermilab, introduced Alliaria petiolata abundance initially increased as deer density increased, but then declined after deer reduction. The understory community responded to the deer cull by increased cover, species richness and height, and community composition changed but was dominated by early successional native forbs. At West Point plant community composition was affected by introduced earthworm density but not deer exclusion. Native plant cover increased and non-native plant cover decreased in fenced plots, thus keeping overall plant cover similar. At both sites native forb cover increased in response to deer reduction, but the anticipated response of understory vegetation failed to materialize at the community level. Deer-favoured forbs (Eurybia divaricata, Maianthemum racemosum, Polygonatum pubescens and Trillium recurvatum) grew taller and flowering probability increased in the absence of deer. Plant community monitoring fails to capture initial and subtle effects of reduced or even cessation of deer browse on browse sensitive species. Measuring responses of individual plants (growth, flowering and reproductive success) provides a more sensitive and powerful assessment of forest understory responses to deer management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria Nuzzo
- Natural Area Consultants, 1 West Hill School Road, Richford, NY 13835, USA
| | - Andrea Dávalos
- Department of Natural Resources, 206 Fernow Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Bernd Blossey
- Department of Natural Resources, 206 Fernow Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
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