Meeting Abstract
Recent studies are increasingly noting the effect of captivity or the built environment on the microbiome of humans and other animals. As symbiotic microbes are essential to many aspects of biological functioning (e.g., digestive and immune functions), it is important to understand how lifestyle differences can impact the microbiome, and consequently the health of hosts. Animals living in captivity experience a range of changes that may influence the microbiome, such as diet changes, treatments, and reduced contact with variable environmental substrates that act as sources of bacterial diversity. Thus far, initial results from previous studies point to a pattern of decreased bacterial diversity in captive animals, but these studies are relatively limited in the scope of species that have been examined. We endeavor to use a novel dataset that comprises paired wild and captive samples from more than 25 species across a range of vertebrates to investigate generalizable patterns of the effect of captivity on the microbiome. We discuss whether a pattern of decreased bacterial diversity in captivity is observed universally, and examine specific bacterial groups that appear to respond consistently. We also examine whether host traits, such as diet type, body size, etc. influence the effect of captivity on the microbiome, and discuss the broad functions that are involved with the bacterial groups that respond to captivity. Overall, the patterns that we observe will inform a range of disciplines from medical and veterinary practice to captive breeding efforts for biological conservation.
