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| Black bear By Diginatur CC BY-SA 3.0 |
This episode: Human-based food used as bait by hunters can reduce bears' gut microbe diversity!
Download Episode (5.9 MB, 8.6 minutes)
Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Actinomadura verrucosospora
Takeaways
Gut microbes are important for the health of most animals. In humans, many things can affect our gut microbe community, including diet, medications, and lifestyle. Eating a varied diet with diverse kinds of plant-based foods can maintain a healthy, functional community of many different kinds of microbe. However, eating mostly highly processed grain-based foods can reduce the diversity and functionality of the gut community.
This is also true in bears. In this study, when bears consumed more processed, grain-based human foods via hunters leaving such foods out as bait, the gut communities in these bears had reduced diversity of microbes. The effects of this reduced diversity were not determined, but it is reasonable to assume it was not good for the bears’ overall health.
This is also true in bears. In this study, when bears consumed more processed, grain-based human foods via hunters leaving such foods out as bait, the gut communities in these bears had reduced diversity of microbes. The effects of this reduced diversity were not determined, but it is reasonable to assume it was not good for the bears’ overall health.
Gillman SJ, McKenney EA, Lafferty DJR. 2022. Human-provisioned foods reduce gut microbiome diversity in American black bears (Ursus americanus). J Mammal 103:339–346.
Other interesting stories:
- 3D-printed electrode structures harvest electricity from bacterial photosynthesis
- Gut microbes are important for helping tadpoles survive in warmer conditions
Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles@gmail.com. Thanks for listening!
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