Bacterial density rather than diversity correlates with hatching success across different avian species

Bacterial communities within avian nests are considered an important determinant of egg viability, potentially selecting for traits that confer embryos with protection against trans-shell infection. A high bacterial density on the eggshell increases hatching failure, whether this effect could be due to changes in bacterial community or just a general increase in bacterial density. We explored this idea using intra- and interspecific comparisons of the relationship between hatching success and eggshell bacteria characterized by culture and molecular techniques (fingerprinting and high-throughput sequencing). We collected information for 152 nests belonging to 17 bird species. Hatching failures occurred more frequently in nests with higher density of aerobic mesophilic bacteria on their eggshells. Bacterial community was also related to hatching success, but only when minority bacterial operational taxonomic units were considered. These findings support the hypothesis that bacterial density is a selective agent of embryo viability, and hence a proxy of hatching failure only within species. Although different avian species hold different bacterial densities or assemblages on their eggs, the association between bacteria and hatching success was similar for different species. This result suggests that interspecific differences in antibacterial defenses are responsible for keeping the hatching success at similar levels in different species.