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A Method to Define the Effects of Environmental Enrichment on Colon Microbiome Biodiversity in a Mouse Colon Tumor Model
Published on: February 28, 2018
Climate warming reduces gut microbiota diversity in a vertebrate ectotherm
Elvire Bestion1,2,3, Staffan Jacob1,2,4, Lucie Zinger2,5
1CNRS UMR 5321, Station d'Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale, 09200 Moulis, France.
Abstract:
Climate change is now considered to be the greatest threat to biodiversity and ecological networks, but its impacts on the bacterial communities associated with plants and animals remain largely unknown. Here, we studied the consequences of climate warming on the gut bacterial communities of an ectotherm, the common lizard (Zootoca vivipara), using a semi-natural experimental approach. We found that 2-3 °C warmer climates cause a 34% loss of populations' microbiota diversity, with possible negative consequences for host survival.
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