Gut microbiome diversity across seasons and locations in thai captive Asian elephants (elephas maximus).
Phumthanakorn N, Tanpradit N, Arya N, Wattananit P, Kusonmano K
Soil Health
Elephants in Thailand's forests and parks shape the landscape by dispersing seeds through their dung, and the health of those microbes determines which plant seeds survive the journey.
Scientists studied the bacteria living in the guts of captive elephants at two different locations in Thailand, collecting samples in both the wet and dry seasons. They found that where an elephant lives and what time of year it is both affect which bacteria thrive inside it. Rainy-season elephants had richer, more varied gut communities, likely because they had access to more diverse plant foods.
Key Findings
Gut microbiome diversity was highest in wet-season elephants from Lampang and lowest in dry-season elephants from Kanchanaburi.
Carbohydrate metabolism pathways were more active in the wet season, reflecting greater plant material consumption.
The two phyla Firmicutes and Bacteroidota dominated gut bacteria across all seasons and locations, but their relative abundances differed by site and season.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Researchers found that the gut bacteria of captive Asian elephants in Thailand vary significantly by both geographic location and season, with the rainy season supporting more diverse microbial communities than the dry season.
Abstract Preview
The gut health of captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) is strongly influenced by human management. However, studies simultaneously examining the effects of both geographical location and seaso...
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