Understanding the interplay between the gut microbiome, behavior and urbanisation in wild birds

科学背景行为有助于对环境变化做出快速、灵活的反应。尽管越来越多的证据表明肠道微生物群落及其基因(肠道微生物组)对宿主行为有有益影响，但我们对野生动物中这些机制的了解严重不足。肠道微生物群变异对人类活动的行为反应有何影响？城市化是如何塑造野生动物肠道微生物群的呢？找出促成城市野生动物成功的机制是一个重要的保护目标。行为灵活性水平高的人更有可能在城市环境中茁壮成长，但我们还没有弄清楚是什么驱动了行为变化。如果肠道微生物群控制着行为，那么与土地利用变化相关的环境影响可能是如此突然和极端，以至于它阻止野生动物获得有益的肠道微生物，这些微生物是在新的栖息地中灵活行为所必需的。英国最大的新城镇开发项目(Northstowe，新水滩)位于东安格利亚，你将解决一个紧迫而及时的假设，即农村鸟类肠道微生物群可能限制或促进城市化的行为反应。METHODSYU将结合研究和野生大山雀(Parus Main)种群，以及基于科学的市民鸟类监测。你将收集野生鸟类的粪便样本，为鸟类安装射频识别(RFID)标签，并使用RFID喂食器测量它们的行为。你将开创一个新颖而实用的监测计划，通过公民科学收集野生动物粪便样本，并进入英国鸟类学信托基金(BTO)的特殊花园鸟类观察计划。你将进行16S rRNA测序与代谢功能分析相结合，以解开微生物群-宿主行为的关系。将根据您的兴趣优先考虑和制定以下目标：1)量化城市和农村人口之间的肠道微生物群差异。2)评估肠道微生物群是否可以预测与城市成功相关的行为(例如，行为的灵活性和胆量)。3)确定肠道微生物群在促进或限制个人适应新发展的城市环境方面的作用。

SCIENTIFIC BACKGROUNDBehaviour facilitates rapid, flexible responses to environmental change. Despite accumulating evidence that intestinal microbiota communities and their genes (the gut microbiome) have beneficial effects on host behaviour, our understanding of these mechanisms operating in wild animals is sorely lacking. What are the consequences of gut microbiome variation for behavioural responses to anthropogenic activities? And how does urbanisation shape wild animal gut microbiomes?Pinpointing the mechanisms that contribute to urban success in wildlife is an important conservation goal. Individuals with high levels of behavioural flexibility are more likely to thrive in urban environments, but we have yet to understand what drives behavioural variation. If the gut microbiome regulates behaviour, then the environmental impact associated with land use change may be so sudden and extreme that it prevents wildlife from acquiring beneficial gut microbes necessary to behave flexibly and survive in novel habitats.The UK's largest new town developments (Northstowe, New Waterbeach) are in East Anglia, and you will address the urgent and timely hypothesis that rural bird gut microbiomes may limit or facilitate behavioural responses to urbanisation.METHODSYou will combine research with wild great tit (Parus major) populations, and citizen science-based bird monitoring. You will collect faecal samples from birds in the wild, fit birds with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and measure their behaviour using RFID feeders. You will pioneer a novel and practical monitoring program to collect wildlife faecal samples through citizen science with access to the British Trust for Ornithology's (BTO) exceptional Garden BirdWatch scheme. You will perform 16S rRNA sequencing paired with metabolic functional analyses to unpick microbiome-host behaviour relationships. The following objectives will be prioritised and developed according to your interests: 1) Quantify gut microbiome variation between urban and rural populations.2) Assess whether the gut microbiome predicts behaviours associated with urban success (e.g. behavioural flexibility and boldness).3) Determine the gut microbiome's role in facilitating or limiting individual acclimation to newly developed urban environments.