The gut microbiome of wild American marten in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Carnivores are ecologically important and sensitive to habitat loss and anthropogenic disruption. Here we measured trophic level and gut bacterial composition as proxies of carnivore ecological status across the Upper Peninsula, Michigan, for wild American marten (Martes americana; hereafter marten)...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PLOS ONE
Main Authors: Lafferty, Diana J. R., McKenney, Erin A., Gillman, Sierra J., Kailing, Chris D., Walimaa, Myles C., Kailing, Macy J., Roell, Brian J.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science 2022
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Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10919/114762
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0275850
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Summary:Carnivores are ecologically important and sensitive to habitat loss and anthropogenic disruption. Here we measured trophic level and gut bacterial composition as proxies of carnivore ecological status across the Upper Peninsula, Michigan, for wild American marten (Martes americana; hereafter marten). In contrast to studies that have focused on omnivorous and herbivorous species, we find that marten, like other carnivore species without a cecum, are dominated by Firmicutes (52.35%) and Proteobacteria (45.31%) but lack Bacteroidetes. Additionally, a majority of the 12 major bacterial genera (occurring at >= 1%) are known hydrogen producers, suggesting these taxa may contribute to host energy requirements through fermentative production of acetate. Our study suggests that live trapping and harvest methods yield similar marten gut microbiome data. In addition, preserving undisturbed forest likely impacts marten ecology by measurably increasing marten trophic level and altering the gut microbiome. Our study underscores the utility of the gut microbiome as a tool to monitor the ecological status of wild carnivore populations. Huron Mountain Wildlife Foundation; College of Arts and Sciences at Northern Michigan University; Sigma Xi [G2018100198233997]; NSF Graduate Research Fellowship [DGE-2140004]; National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program [1000263298] Published version This research was supported by a grant from Huron Mountain Wildlife Foundation (DRJL, EAM). Additional funding was provided by the College of Arts and Sciences at Northern Michigan University (DJRL) and a Sigma Xi's Grants-in-Aid of Research Award Grant [SJG: grant number: G2018100198233997, 2019]. SJG. was supported through the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (grant number: No. DGE-2140004, 2019-2024). This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under Grant No. 1000263298. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this ...