The relationship between dietary trophic level, parasites and the microbiome of Pacific walrus ( Odobenus rosmarus divergens )
Arctic species are likely to experience rapid shifts in prey availability under climate change, which may alter their exposure to microbes and parasites. Here, we describe fecal bacterial and macroparasite communities and assess correlations with diet trophic level in Pacific walruses harvested duri...
Published in: | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
Other Authors: | , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
The Royal Society
2022
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.0079 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2022.0079 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2022.0079 |
id |
crroyalsociety:10.1098/rspb.2022.0079 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crroyalsociety:10.1098/rspb.2022.0079 2024-06-02T08:02:24+00:00 The relationship between dietary trophic level, parasites and the microbiome of Pacific walrus ( Odobenus rosmarus divergens ) Couch, Claire Sanders, Justin Sweitzer, Danielle Deignan, Kristen Cohen, Lesley Broughton, Heather Steingass, Sheanna Beechler, Brianna National Geographic Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.0079 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2022.0079 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2022.0079 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 289, issue 1972 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 journal-article 2022 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.0079 2024-05-07T14:16:43Z Arctic species are likely to experience rapid shifts in prey availability under climate change, which may alter their exposure to microbes and parasites. Here, we describe fecal bacterial and macroparasite communities and assess correlations with diet trophic level in Pacific walruses harvested during subsistence hunts by members of the Native Villages of Gambell and Savoonga on St Lawrence Island, Alaska. Fecal bacterial communities were dominated by relatively few taxa, mostly belonging to phyla Fusobacteriota and Firmicutes. Members of parasite-associated phyla Nematoda, Acanthocephala and Platyhelminthes were prevalent in our study population. We hypothesized that high versus low prey trophic level (e.g. fish versus bivalves) would result in different gut bacterial and macroparasite communities. We found that bacterial community structure correlated to diet, with nine clades enriched in walruses consuming higher-trophic-level prey. While no parasite compositional differences were found at the phylum level, the cestode genus Diphyllobothrium was more prevalent and abundant in walruses consuming higher-trophic-level prey, probably because fish are the intermediate hosts for this genus. This study suggests that diet is important for structuring both parasite and microbial communities of this culturally and ecologically important species, with potential implications for population health under climate change. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change Odobenus rosmarus Savoonga St Lawrence Island Alaska walrus* The Royal Society Arctic Lawrence Island ENVELOPE(-103.718,-103.718,56.967,56.967) Pacific Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 289 1972 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
The Royal Society |
op_collection_id |
crroyalsociety |
language |
English |
description |
Arctic species are likely to experience rapid shifts in prey availability under climate change, which may alter their exposure to microbes and parasites. Here, we describe fecal bacterial and macroparasite communities and assess correlations with diet trophic level in Pacific walruses harvested during subsistence hunts by members of the Native Villages of Gambell and Savoonga on St Lawrence Island, Alaska. Fecal bacterial communities were dominated by relatively few taxa, mostly belonging to phyla Fusobacteriota and Firmicutes. Members of parasite-associated phyla Nematoda, Acanthocephala and Platyhelminthes were prevalent in our study population. We hypothesized that high versus low prey trophic level (e.g. fish versus bivalves) would result in different gut bacterial and macroparasite communities. We found that bacterial community structure correlated to diet, with nine clades enriched in walruses consuming higher-trophic-level prey. While no parasite compositional differences were found at the phylum level, the cestode genus Diphyllobothrium was more prevalent and abundant in walruses consuming higher-trophic-level prey, probably because fish are the intermediate hosts for this genus. This study suggests that diet is important for structuring both parasite and microbial communities of this culturally and ecologically important species, with potential implications for population health under climate change. |
author2 |
National Geographic Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Couch, Claire Sanders, Justin Sweitzer, Danielle Deignan, Kristen Cohen, Lesley Broughton, Heather Steingass, Sheanna Beechler, Brianna |
spellingShingle |
Couch, Claire Sanders, Justin Sweitzer, Danielle Deignan, Kristen Cohen, Lesley Broughton, Heather Steingass, Sheanna Beechler, Brianna The relationship between dietary trophic level, parasites and the microbiome of Pacific walrus ( Odobenus rosmarus divergens ) |
author_facet |
Couch, Claire Sanders, Justin Sweitzer, Danielle Deignan, Kristen Cohen, Lesley Broughton, Heather Steingass, Sheanna Beechler, Brianna |
author_sort |
Couch, Claire |
title |
The relationship between dietary trophic level, parasites and the microbiome of Pacific walrus ( Odobenus rosmarus divergens ) |
title_short |
The relationship between dietary trophic level, parasites and the microbiome of Pacific walrus ( Odobenus rosmarus divergens ) |
title_full |
The relationship between dietary trophic level, parasites and the microbiome of Pacific walrus ( Odobenus rosmarus divergens ) |
title_fullStr |
The relationship between dietary trophic level, parasites and the microbiome of Pacific walrus ( Odobenus rosmarus divergens ) |
title_full_unstemmed |
The relationship between dietary trophic level, parasites and the microbiome of Pacific walrus ( Odobenus rosmarus divergens ) |
title_sort |
relationship between dietary trophic level, parasites and the microbiome of pacific walrus ( odobenus rosmarus divergens ) |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.0079 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2022.0079 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2022.0079 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-103.718,-103.718,56.967,56.967) |
geographic |
Arctic Lawrence Island Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Lawrence Island Pacific |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Odobenus rosmarus Savoonga St Lawrence Island Alaska walrus* |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Odobenus rosmarus Savoonga St Lawrence Island Alaska walrus* |
op_source |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 289, issue 1972 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.0079 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
289 |
container_issue |
1972 |
_version_ |
1800746894095286272 |