EAGER: Integrating host-associated microbes into trait-based community ecology frameworks

了解动物群落如何对环境变化作出反应，对于理解生物多样性的模式非常重要。识别允许一个物种占据给定环境的特征也使我们能够预测该物种是否能够在面对环境扰动时持续存在。过去二十年的研究表明，生活在哺乳动物胃肠道中的微生物，即肠道微生物群，可以塑造宿主的代谢、免疫功能和行为。肠道微生物组的组成和功能也随宿主环境因素（如饮食）而变化。由于这些相互作用，肠道微生物组可以被认为是对环境变化作出反应的宿主特征，并有助于确定宿主种群是否可以持续存在。然而，肠道微生物群通常没有被整合到宿主生态模型中。该项目旨在确定肠道微生物组影响宿主种群动态的程度，因此可以被认为是有助于改善宿主生态模型的宿主特征。这项研究的重点是阿根廷的两个野生黑金吼猴（Alouatta caraya）。这里的气候属于亚热带气候，温度和植物群落结构的季节性变化明显，这使得卡拉亚树面临着很高的营养压力风险。此外，两个研究群体中的一个比另一个经历更强烈的季节性气候变化。研究小组将在三个季节中收集描述每个种群的五组卡拉亚虫的气候和植物群落结构以及饮食的数据。用于描述微生物组及其功能的粪便样本和用于描述卡拉亚草能量平衡和炎症状态的尿液样本也将与人口统计数据一起收集。这些数据将被整合起来，以确定肠道微生物组如何随着环境变化而变化，以确定柠条的生理后果，并将这些过程与柠条种群动态联系起来。该结果将是将肠道微生物组整合到基于性状的宿主生态框架中的关键的第一步。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Knowledge of how communities of animals respond to environmental change is important for understanding patterns of biodiversity. Identifying the traits that allow a species to occupy a given environment also allows us to predict if that species will be able to persist in the face of environmental perturbation. Research over the past two decades has shown that microbes living in the gastrointestinal tracts of mammals, known as the gut microbiome, can shape host metabolism, immune function, and behavior. The composition and function of the gut microbiome also varies with host environmental factors, such as diet. Because of these interactions, the gut microbiome could be considered a host trait that responds to environmental shifts and helps determine whether host populations can persist. Nevertheless, the gut microbiome has generally not been integrated into models of host ecology. This project aims to determine the extent to which gut microbiomes influence host population dynamics and can therefore be considered a host trait that contributes to the improvement of models of host ecology.The study focuses on two populations of wild, black and gold howler monkeys (Alouatta caraya) in Argentina. Here, the climate is subtropical, with marked seasonal changes in temperature and plant community structure, which puts A. caraya at high risk for nutritional stress. Additionally, one of the two study populations experiences stronger seasonal climate shifts than the other. The research team will collect data describing climate and plant community structure as well as A. caraya diet for five groups of A. caraya in each population during three seasons. Fecal samples for describing the microbiome and its function, and urine for describing A. caraya energy balance and inflammation status, will also be collected along with demographic data. These data will be integrated to determine how the gut microbiome shifts in response to environmental variation, to identify physiological consequences for A. caraya, and to link these processes to A. caraya population dynamics. The results will be a critical first step toward integrating the gut microbiome into trait-based host ecological frameworks.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.