Does nest occupancy by birds influence the microbial composition?

Nest microbiota plays a vital role in the breeding and development of birds, which not only provides protection to bird hosts but also negatively affects the host. At present, it is unclear whether the composition of the microbes in the nests is affected by nesting. For this reason, we hung artificial nest boxes to simulate the natural nesting environment and combined 16S rRNA and ITS high-throughput sequencing technology to further study the differences in microbial composition and richness between used nests and control nests of Japanese tits ().

An improved comprehensive model for assessing the heavy metals exposure towards waterbirds: A case report from Black-necked cranes (Grus nigricollis) in Caohai Wetland, China.

Heavy metal contamination poses a significant environmental threat to wildlife on global scale, making accurate assessment of exposure risk crucial for conservation efforts, particularly for vulnerable species. Existing risk assessment models have been widely used, but their construction process lacks comprehensive considerations. In this study, we constructed an optimized health risk assessment model based on the well-established "Liu's model" and "ADI model", and applied the pollution allocation factor (AF) to accurately assess the risk of heavy metal exposure to wildlife.

The Food Niche Overlap and Interspecific Relationship between the Sympatric Tibetan Macaque and Grey Snub-Nosed Monkey.

Assessing the trophic niche and interspecific relationships between related species and determining how the species maintain differences in nutritional niches while coexisting in the same area are important topics in ecological research. Therefore, exploring the mechanism of food resource utilization, competition and coexistence among species distributed in the same region is important. In this study, we used fecal samples and metagenome sequencing technology to study the plant feeding habits and coexistence mechanisms of Tibetan macaques () and grey snub-nosed monkeys () within the same area.

Winter Dietary Analysis Reveals the Foraging Differences of Wild Boar () in Different Regions of a Karst Mountainous Area.

Wild boars () are extremely common in southern China, but little study has been conducted regarding reporting the dietary habits of wild boars using high-throughput sequencing technology, especially in karst areas, due to the difficulty in obtaining stomach contents of wild boars. In our study, the stomach contents of 14 wild boars in southern China were analyzed by DNA metabarcoding. The results showed that there were 153 genera, 93 families, and 48 orders of plant food sources for wild boars.

Gut microbiota and fecal metabolites in captive and wild North China leopard (Panthera pardus japonensis) by comparsion using 16 s rRNA gene sequencing and LC/MS-based metabolomics.

Background: Gut microbes significantly contribute to nutrient digestion and absorption, intestinal health and immunity, and are essential for the survival and environmental adaptation of wild animals. However, there are few studies on the gut microbiota of captive and wild North China leopard (Panthera pardus japonensis).

Results: A total of 10 mainly bacterial phyla were identified in the fecal microbiota of North China leopard, Lachnoclostridium (p = 0.