loading page

Cascading effects of  habitat loss on ectoparasite communities and their associated bacterial  microbiomes        
  • +9
  • Kelly A. Speer,
  • Tiago Teixeira,
  • Alexis Brown,
  • Susan Perkins,
  • Katharina Dittmar,
  • Melissa Ingala,
  • Claudia Wultsch,
  • Konstantinos Krampis,
  • Carl Dick,
  • Spencer Galen,
  • Nancy Simmons,
  • Elizabeth Clare
Kelly A. Speer
American Museum of Natural History

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

Author Profile
Tiago Teixeira
Queen Mary University of London
Author Profile
Alexis Brown
Stony Brook University Department of Ecology and Evolution
Author Profile
Susan Perkins
American Museum of Natural History
Author Profile
Katharina Dittmar
State University of New York at Buffalo
Author Profile
Melissa Ingala
American Museum of Natural History
Author Profile
Claudia Wultsch
American Museum of Natural History
Author Profile
Konstantinos Krampis
Hunter College CUNY
Author Profile
Carl Dick
Western Kentucky University
Author Profile
Spencer Galen
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
Author Profile
Nancy Simmons
American Museum of Natural History
Author Profile
Elizabeth Clare
Queen Mary University of London
Author Profile

Abstract

Suitable habitat fragment size, isolation, and distance from a source are important variables influencing community composition of plants and animals, but the role of these environmental factors in determining composition and variation of host-associated microbial communities is poorly known. In parasite-associated microbial communities, it is hypothesized that evolution and ecology of an arthropod parasite will influence its microbiome more than broader environmental factors, but this hypothesis has not been extensively tested. To examine the influence of the broader environment on the parasite microbiome, we applied high-throughput sequencing of the V4 region of 16S rRNA to characterize the microbiome of 222 obligate ectoparasitic bat flies (Streblidae and Nycteribiidae) collected from 155 bats (representing six species) from ten habitat fragments in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil. Parasite species identity is the strongest driver of microbiome composition. To a lesser extent, reduction in habitat fragment area, but not isolation, is associated with an increase in connectance and betweenness centrality of bacterial association networks driven by changes in the diversity of the parasite community. Controlling for the parasite community, bacterial network topology covaries with habitat patch area and exhibits parasite-species specific responses to environmental change. Taken together, habitat loss may have cascading consequences for communities of interacting macro- and microorgansims.  
12 Jun 2020Submitted to Molecular Ecology
12 Jun 2020Assigned to Editor
12 Jun 2020Submission Checks Completed
02 Jul 2020Reviewer(s) Assigned
28 Jul 2020Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending