title: Habitat fragmentation is associated to gut microbiota diversity of an endangered primate: implications for conservation.
abstract: The expansion of agriculture is shrinking pristine forest areas worldwide, jeopardizing the persistence of their wild inhabitants. The Udzungwa red colobus monkey (Procolobus gordonorum) is among the most threatened primate species in Africa. Primarily arboreal and highly sensitive to hunting and habitat destruction, they provide a critical model to understanding whether anthropogenic disturbance impacts gut microbiota diversity. We sampled seven social groups inhabiting two forests (disturbed vs. undisturbed) in the Udzungwa Mountains of Tanzania. While Ruminococcaceae and Lachnospiraceae dominated in all individuals, reflecting their role in extracting energy from folivorous diets, analysis of genus composition showed a marked diversification across habitats, with gut microbiota α-diversity significantly higher in the undisturbed forest. Functional analysis suggests that such variation may be associated with food plant diversity in natural versus human-modified habitats, requiring metabolic pathways to digest xenobiotics. Thus, the effects of changes in gut microbiota should not be ignored to conserve endangered populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biodiversity and Molecular Ecology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Via E. Mach 1, 38010 S. Michele all'Adige, Trento, Italy.|Tropical Biodiversity Section, MUSE - Museo delle Scienze, Corso del Lavoro e della Scienza 3, 38123 Trento, Italy.|Reproductive Biology Unit, German Primate Centre, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Kellnerweg 4, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Barelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Computational Biology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Via E. Mach 1, 38010 S. Michele all'Adige, Trento, Italy.
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Albanese
authors.affiliation: Department of Computational Biology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Via E. Mach 1, 38010 S. Michele all'Adige, Trento, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Donati
authors.affiliation: Department of Genomics and Biology of Fruit Crops, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Via E. Mach 1, 38010 S. Michele all'Adige, Trento, Italy.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pindo
authors.affiliation: Department of Genomics and Biology of Fruit Crops, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Via E. Mach 1, 38010 S. Michele all'Adige, Trento, Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dallago
authors.affiliation: Tropical Biodiversity Section, MUSE - Museo delle Scienze, Corso del Lavoro e della Scienza 3, 38123 Trento, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rovero
authors.affiliation: Department of Computational Biology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Via E. Mach 1, 38010 S. Michele all'Adige, Trento, Italy.
authors.forename: Duccio
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cavalieri
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Quality and Nutrition, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Via E. Mach 1, 38010 S. Michele all'Adige, Trento, Italy.
authors.forename: Kieran Michael
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Tuohy
authors.affiliation: Department of Biodiversity and Molecular Ecology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Via E. Mach 1, 38010 S. Michele all'Adige, Trento, Italy.
authors.forename: Heidi Christine
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Hauffe
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Quality and Nutrition, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Via E. Mach 1, 38010 S. Michele all'Adige, Trento, Italy.|IBIMET-CNR, Via Caproni 8, 50145, Firenze, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlotta
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: De Filippo
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D000818:Animals; D041963:Bacteroidetes / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology; D044822:Biodiversity; D003104:Colobus / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004032:Diet; D017753:Ecosystem; D056727:Endangered Species; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D000068536:Bacillota / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D010802:Phylogeny; D010944:Plants / Q000737:chemistry; D020560:Proteobacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology; D013142:Spirochaeta / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology; D013636:Tanzania; D061327:Verrucomicrobia / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology