Examining How Student Identities Interact with an Immersive Field Ecology Course and its Implications for Graduate School Education.

One of the central issues in ecology is the underrepresentation of individuals from diverse backgrounds. This underrepresentation starts at the undergraduate level and continues into graduate programs, contributing to a need for more diversity in the discipline. We hypothesize that the interplay of students' identities and contextual factors influence how students perceive their sense of belonging in a field-based discipline.

Mr. Toad's Wild Fungi: Fungal Isolate Diversity on Colorado Boreal Toads and their Capacity for Pathogen Inhibition.

The amphibian skin pathogen () has caused an ongoing biodiversity crisis, including in the locally endangered Colorado boreal toad (). Although researchers have investigated the bacteria living on amphibian skin and how they interact with , there is less information about fungal community members. This study describes (1) the diversity of culturable fungi from boreal toad skin, (2) which subset of these isolates is -inhibitory, and (3) how affects these isolates' growth and morphology.

Captivity, Reintroductions, and the Rewilding of Amphibian-associated Bacterial Communities.

Many studies have noted differences in microbes associated with animals reared in captivity compared to their wild counterparts, but few studies have examined how microbes change when animals are reintroduced to the wild after captive rearing. As captive assurance populations and reintroduction programs increase, a better understanding of how microbial symbionts respond during animal translocations is critical. We examined changes in microbes associated with boreal toads (Anaxyrus boreas), a threatened amphibian, after reintroduction to the wild following captive rearing.

Together or Alone: Evaluating the Pathogen Inhibition Potential of Bacterial Cocktails against an Amphibian Pathogen.

The amphibian fungal skin disease () has caused major biodiversity losses globally. Several experimental trials have tested the use of Janthinobacterium lividum to reduce mortality due to infections, usually in single-strain amendments. It is well-characterized in terms of its anti- activity mechanisms.

Predicting fungal infection rate and severity with skin-associated microbial communities on amphibians.

Pathogen success (risk and severity) is influenced by host-associated microbiota, but the degree to which variation in microbial community traits predict future infection presence/absence (risk) and load (severity) for the host is unknown. We conducted a time-series experiment by sampling the skin-associated bacterial communities of five amphibian species before and after exposure to the fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobaditis (Bd). We sought to determine whether microbial community traits are predictors of, or are affected by, Bd infection risk and intensity.

Bacterial Biofilm Thickness and Fungal Inhibitory Bacterial Richness Both Prevent Establishment of the Amphibian Fungal Pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis.

Host-associated microbial biofilms can provide protection against pathogen establishment. In many host-microbe symbioses (including, but not limited to humans, plants, insects, and amphibians), there is a correlation between host-associated microbial diversity and pathogen infection risk. Diversity may prevent infection by pathogens through sampling effects and niche complementarity, but an alternative hypothesis may be that microbial biomass is confounded with diversity and that host-associated biofilms are deterring pathogen establishment through space preemption.

Identifying fungal-host associations in an amphibian host system.

Host-associated microbes can interact with macro-organisms in a number of ways that affect host health. Few studies of host-associated microbiomes, however, focus on fungi. In addition, it is difficult to discern whether a fungal organism found in or on an ectotherm host is associating with it in a durable, symbiotic interaction versus a transient one, and to what extent the habitat and host share microbes.

Is there convergence of gut microbes in blood-feeding vertebrates?

Animal microbiomes play an important role in dietary adaptation, yet the extent to which microbiome changes exhibit parallel evolution is unclear. Of particular interest is an adaptation to extreme diets, such as blood, which poses special challenges in its content of proteins and lack of essential nutrients. In this study, we assessed taxonomic signatures (by 16S rRNA amplicon profiling) and potential functional signatures (inferred by Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States (PICRUSt)) of haematophagy in birds and bats.

Community richness of amphibian skin bacteria correlates with bioclimate at the global scale.

Animal-associated microbiomes are integral to host health, yet key biotic and abiotic factors that shape host-associated microbial communities at the global scale remain poorly understood. We investigated global patterns in amphibian skin bacterial communities, incorporating samples from 2,349 individuals representing 205 amphibian species across a broad biogeographic range. We analysed how biotic and abiotic factors correlate with skin microbial communities using multiple statistical approaches.

Experimental habitat fragmentation disrupts nematode infections in Australian skinks.

Habitat conversion and fragmentation threaten biodiversity and disrupt species interactions. While parasites are recognized as ecologically important, the impacts of fragmentation on parasitism are poorly understood relative to other species interactions. This lack of understanding is in part due to confounding landscape factors that accompany fragmentation.

Assessment of Bacterial Communities Associated With the Skin of Costa Rican Amphibians at La Selva Biological Station.

Amphibian skin is a suitable environment for rich communities of microorganisms, both beneficial and detrimental to the host. The amphibian cutaneous microbiota has been hypothesized to play an important role as symbionts, protecting their hosts against disease. Costa Rica has one of the most diverse assemblages of amphibians in the world and we know very little about the microbiota of these tropical animals.

Probiotics as a tool for disease mitigation in wildlife: insights from food production and medicine.

The use of beneficial microbes to improve host attributes, referred to as probiotic therapy, has been increasingly applied to industries, including aquaculture, agriculture, and human medicine, and is emerging in the field of wildlife medicine. However, there is a general lack of shared knowledge regarding successful practices as well as ecological processes that underlie host-microbe interactions. Presently, probiotics are being developed specifically for preventing and treating particular infectious diseases as an alternative to antibiotic treatments and chemotherapy.

Host-associated bacterial community succession during amphibian development.

Amphibians undergo significant developmental changes during their life cycle, as they typically move from a primarily aquatic environment to a more terrestrial one. Amphibian skin is a mucosal tissue that assembles communities of symbiotic microbiota. However, it is currently not well understood as to where amphibians acquire their skin symbionts, and whether the sources of microbial symbionts change throughout development.

Composition of Micro-eukaryotes on the Skin of the Cascades Frog () and Patterns of Correlation between Skin Microbes and .

Global amphibian decline linked to fungal pathogens has galvanized research on applied amphibian conservation. Skin-associated bacterial communities of amphibians have been shown to mediate fungal skin infections and the development of probiotic treatments with antifungal bacteria has become an emergent area of research. While exploring the role of protective bacteria has been a primary focus for amphibian conservation, we aim to expand and study the other microbes present in amphibian skin communities including fungi and other micro-eukaryotes.

Evaluating the impact of domestication and captivity on the horse gut microbiome.

The mammal gut microbiome, which includes host microbes and their respective genes, is now recognized as an essential second genome that provides critical functions to the host. In humans, studies have revealed that lifestyle strongly influences the composition and diversity of the gastrointestinal microbiome. We hypothesized that these trends in humans may be paralleled in mammals subjected to anthropogenic forces such as domestication and captivity, in which diets and natural life histories are often greatly modified.

A communal catalogue reveals Earth's multiscale microbial diversity.

Our growing awareness of the microbial world's importance and diversity contrasts starkly with our limited understanding of its fundamental structure. Despite recent advances in DNA sequencing, a lack of standardized protocols and common analytical frameworks impedes comparisons among studies, hindering the development of global inferences about microbial life on Earth. Here we present a meta-analysis of microbial community samples collected by hundreds of researchers for the Earth Microbiome Project.

The Effects of Captivity on the Mammalian Gut Microbiome.

Recent studies increasingly note 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 biology (e.g.

Host Ecology Rather Than Host Phylogeny Drives Amphibian Skin Microbial Community Structure in the Biodiversity Hotspot of Madagascar.

Host-associated microbiotas of vertebrates are diverse and complex communities that contribute to host health. In particular, for amphibians, cutaneous microbial communities likely play a significant role in pathogen defense; however, our ecological understanding of these communities is still in its infancy. Here, we take advantage of the fully endemic and locally species-rich amphibian fauna of Madagascar to investigate the factors structuring amphibian skin microbiota on a large scale.

Identification of Bufadienolides from the Boreal Toad, Anaxyrus boreas, Active Against a Fungal Pathogen.

Amphibian granular glands provide a wide range of compounds on the skin that defend against pathogens and predators. We identified three bufadienolides-the steroid-like compounds arenobufagin, gamabufotalin, and telocinobufagin-from the boreal toad, Anaxyrus boreas, through liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC/MS). Compounds were detected both after inducing skin gland secretions and in constitutive mucosal rinses from toads.

Deconstructing the Bat Skin Microbiome: Influences of the Host and the Environment.

Bats are geographically widespread and play an important role in many ecosystems, but relatively little is known about the ecology of their associated microbial communities and the role microbial taxa play in bat health, development, and evolution. Moreover, few vertebrate animal skin microbiomes have been comprehensively assessed, and thus characterizing the bat skin microbiome will yield valuable insight into the variability of vertebrate skin microbiomes as a whole. The recent emergence of the skin fungal disease white-nose syndrome highlights the potentially important role bat skin microbial communities could play in bat health.

The Oral and Skin Microbiomes of Captive Komodo Dragons Are Significantly Shared with Their Habitat.

Examining the way in which animals, including those in captivity, interact with their environment is extremely important for studying ecological processes and developing sophisticated animal husbandry. Here we use the Komodo dragon () to quantify the degree of sharing of salivary, skin, and fecal microbiota with their environment in captivity. Both species richness and microbial community composition of most surfaces in the Komodo dragon's environment are similar to the Komodo dragon's salivary and skin microbiota but less similar to the stool-associated microbiota.

Probiotic treatment restores protection against lethal fungal infection lost during amphibian captivity.

Host-associated microbiomes perform many beneficial functions including resisting pathogens and training the immune system. Here, we show that amphibians developing in captivity lose substantial skin bacterial diversity, primarily due to reduced ongoing input from environmental sources. We combined studies of wild and captive amphibians with a database of over 1 000 strains that allows us to examine antifungal function of the skin microbiome.