Land cover and forest connectivity alter the interactions among host, pathogen and skin microbiome

Deforestation has detrimental consequences on biodiversity, affecting species interactions at multiple scales. The associations among vertebrates, pathogens and their commensal/symbiotic microbial communities (i.e. microbiomes) have important downstream effects for biodiversity conservation, yet we know little about how deforestation contributes to changes in host microbial diversity and pathogen abundance. Here, we tested the effects of landcover, forest connectivity and infection by the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) on amphibian skin bacterial diversity along deforestation gradients in Brazilian landscapes. If disturbance to natural habitat alters skin microbiomes as it does in vertebrate host communities, then we would expect higher host bacterial diversity in natural forest habitats. Bd infection loads are also often higher in these closed-canopy forests, which may in turn impact skin-associated bacterial communities. We found that forest corridors shaped compos...

森林砍伐对生物多样性具有显著不利影响，可在多个尺度上干扰物种种间相互作用。脊椎动物、病原体及其共栖/共生微生物群落（即微生物组（microbiomes））之间的关联，对生物多样性保护具有重要的下游效应，但目前学界对森林砍伐如何驱动宿主微生物多样性与病原体丰度的变化仍知之甚少。本研究以巴西景观中沿森林砍伐梯度分布的两栖动物为研究对象，探究了土地覆盖、森林连通性以及蛙壶菌（Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, Bd）感染对其皮肤细菌多样性的影响。若自然栖息地的扰动正如其对脊椎动物宿主群落的影响那般，会改变皮肤微生物组，则我们预计天然林生境中的宿主细菌多样性会更高。此外，这类密闭冠层森林中的壶菌感染负荷通常更高，这可能反过来影响皮肤相关细菌群落。我们发现，森林廊道对群落组成塑造……