1
|
Li X, Chen J, Zhang C, Zhang S, Shen Q, Wang B, Bao M, Xu B, Wu Q, Han N, Huang Z. Fecal Metagenomics Study Reveals That a Low-Fiber Diet Drives the Migration of Wild Asian Elephants in Xishuangbanna, China. Animals (Basel) 2023; 13:3193. [PMID: 37893918 PMCID: PMC10603651 DOI: 10.3390/ani13203193] [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] [Received: 08/26/2023] [Revised: 09/30/2023] [Accepted: 10/12/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The rare northward migration of wild Asian elephants in Xishuangbanna, China, has attracted global attention. Elephant migration is a complex ecological process, and the factors driving this long-distance migration remain elusive. In this study, fresh fecal samples were collected from both captive and wild Asian elephants, along with breastfed calves residing within the Wild Elephant Valley of Xishuangbanna. Our aim was to investigate the relationship between diet, gut microbiota, and migration patterns in Asian elephants through comprehensive metagenomic sequencing analyses. Among the breastfed Asian elephant group, Bacteroidales and Escherichia emerged as the dominant bacterial taxa, while the primary carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) enriched in this group were GH2, GH20, GH92, GH97, GH38, GH23, and GH43, aligning with their dietary source, namely breast milk. The bacterial taxa enriched in captive Asian elephants (CAEs) were mainly Butyrivibrio, Treponema, and Fibrobacter, and the enriched lignocellulose-degrading enzymes mainly included GH25, GH10, GH9, and cellulase (EC 3.2.1.4). These findings are consistent with the high-fiber diet of captive elephants. In contrast, the main bacterial taxa enriched in wild Asian elephants (WAEs) were Ruminococcus and Eubacterium, and the enriched CAZymes included GH109, GH20, GH33, GH28, GH106, and GH39. The abundance of lignocellulose-degrading bacteria and CAZyme content was low in WAEs, indicating challenges in processing high-fiber foods and explaining the low-fiber diet in this group. These findings suggest that wild elephant herds migrate in search of nutritionally suitable, low-fiber food sources.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xia Li
- Engineering Research Center of Sustainable Development and Utilization of Biomass Energy, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China
- Southwest United Graduate School, Kunming 650092, China
| | - Junmin Chen
- Engineering Research Center of Sustainable Development and Utilization of Biomass Energy, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China
- Key Laboratory of Yunnan Provincial Education Department for Plateau Characteristic Food Enzymes, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China
| | - Chengbo Zhang
- Engineering Research Center of Sustainable Development and Utilization of Biomass Energy, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China
| | - Shuyin Zhang
- Engineering Research Center of Sustainable Development and Utilization of Biomass Energy, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China
| | - Qingzhong Shen
- Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve Management and Protection Bureau, Jinghong 666100, China
| | - Bin Wang
- Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve Management and Protection Bureau, Jinghong 666100, China
| | - Mingwei Bao
- Asian Elephant Provenance Breeding and Rescue Center in Xishuangbanna, Jinghong 666100, China
| | - Bo Xu
- Engineering Research Center of Sustainable Development and Utilization of Biomass Energy, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China
| | - Qian Wu
- Engineering Research Center of Sustainable Development and Utilization of Biomass Energy, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China
| | - Nanyu Han
- Engineering Research Center of Sustainable Development and Utilization of Biomass Energy, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China
| | - Zunxi Huang
- Engineering Research Center of Sustainable Development and Utilization of Biomass Energy, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Bai D, Wan X, Zhang L, Campos-Arceiz A, Wei F, Zhang Z. The recent Asian elephant range expansion in Yunnan, China, is associated with climate change and enforced protection efforts in human-dominated landscapes. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.889077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Recently, the northward movement of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in Yunnan, China, has attracted international attention. Climate change or human disturbances have been proposed to be the key drivers, but these hypotheses have not been rigorously tested. In this study, we quantified the relationship between climate change and human impacts on the recent range expansion of Asian elephants in southwest China. We found that the first observation probability of this species in a new place during 1959–2021 had a significant and positive association with change in air temperature and human density, resulting in a movement toward a high-latitude region with a warmer climate and higher human density; however, its association with precipitation was scale-dependent in time: positive or negative during the past 10 or 5 years, respectively. Under the enforced protection policy, human-dominated areas became preferred habitats for elephants. Our results indicate that climate change and enforced protection efforts in human-dominated landscapes in the last few decades are significant drivers of the recent range expansion of Asian elephants in Yunnan, China. It is necessary to expand the current protected areas or habitat corridors toward the north or set up new reserves in the north and set up barriers between human settlements and elephant habitats to facilitate elephant movements and minimize human-elephant conflicts under accelerated global change.
Collapse
|