Impacts of coprophagic foraging behaviour on the avian gut microbiome

Alice Dunbar; Barbara Drigo; Steven P Djordjevic; Erica Donner; Bethany J Hoye

doi:10.1111/brv.13036

Impacts of coprophagic foraging behaviour on the avian gut microbiome

Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc. 2024 Apr;99(2):582-597. doi: 10.1111/brv.13036. Epub 2023 Dec 8.

Authors

Alice Dunbar¹, Barbara Drigo^{1

2}, Steven P Djordjevic^{3

4}, Erica Donner^{1

5}, Bethany J Hoye⁶

Affiliations

¹ Future Industries Institute (FII), University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes Campus, GPO Box 2471 5095, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
² UniSA STEM, University of South Australia, GPO Box 2471, Adelaide, South Australia, 5001, Australia.
³ Australian Institute for Microbiology and Infection, University of Technology Sydney, PO Box 123, Ultimo, New South Wales, 2007, Australia.
⁴ Australian Centre for Genomic Epidemiological Microbiology, University of Technology Sydney, PO Box 123, Ultimo, New South Wales, 2007, Australia.
⁵ Cooperative Research Centre for Solving Antimicrobial Resistance in Agribusiness, Food, and Environments (CRC SAAFE), University of South Australia, GPO Box 2471 5095, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
⁶ School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, 2522, Australia.

PMID: 38062990
DOI: 10.1111/brv.13036

Abstract

Avian gut microbial communities are complex and play a fundamental role in regulating biological functions within an individual. Although it is well established that diet can influence the structure and composition of the gut microbiota, foraging behaviour may also play a critical, yet unexplored role in shaping the composition, dynamics, and adaptive potential of avian gut microbiota. In this review, we examine the potential influence of coprophagic foraging behaviour on the establishment and adaptability of wild avian gut microbiomes. Coprophagy involves the ingestion of faeces, sourced from either self (autocoprophagy), conspecific animals (allocoprophagy), or heterospecific animals. Much like faecal transplant therapy, coprophagy may (i) support the establishment of the gut microbiota of young precocial species, (ii) directly and indirectly provide nutritional and energetic requirements, and (iii) represent a mechanism by which birds can rapidly adapt the microbiota to changing environments and diets. However, in certain contexts, coprophagy may also pose risks to wild birds, and their microbiomes, through increased exposure to chemical pollutants, pathogenic microbes, and antibiotic-resistant microbes, with deleterious effects on host health and performance. Given the potentially far-reaching consequences of coprophagy for avian microbiomes, and the dearth of literature directly investigating these links, we have developed a predictive framework for directing future research to understand better when and why wild birds engage in distinct types of coprophagy, and the consequences of this foraging behaviour. There is a need for comprehensive investigation into the influence of coprophagy on avian gut microbiotas and its effects on host health and performance throughout ontogeny and across a range of environmental perturbations. Future behavioural studies combined with metagenomic approaches are needed to provide insights into the function of this poorly understood behaviour.

Keywords: antimicrobial resistance; coprophagy; diet; excreta; foraging behaviour; herbivory; microbiome development; nutrition.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Birds
Coprophagia
Diet / veterinary
Feces
Gastrointestinal Microbiome*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding