{
  "abstract": "Background: Niche differentiation is a fundamental mechanism facilitating the coexistence of sympatric species, yet the extent to which dietary partitioning is associated with gut microbial differentiation remains poorly understood in wild cervids.\n\nMethods: Here, we investigated winter dietary composition and fecal microbiome communities of three sympatric cervid species—moose ( Alces alces ), red deer ( Cervus elaphus ), and roe deer ( Capreolus pygargus )—in Youhao National Nature Reserve, northeastern China. A total of 55 fresh fecal samples were collected in January 2024, including 19 moose, 7 red deer, and 29 roe deer samples. Dietary composition was characterized using rbcL DNA metabarcoding, while microbiome communities were assessed using full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing.\n\nResults: Our results showed the three cervid species exhibited distinct dietary patterns, moose showed a relatively narrow woody-plant-dominated diet, whereas red deer and roe deer exhibited higher dietary diversity, and roe deer exhibited broader use of shared plant resources; microbiome communities also differed significantly among host species, with moose showing the clearest separation from red deer and roe deer in community composition and predicted microbial metabolic potentials; Procrustes analysis revealed significant concordance between dietary composition and microbiome community, and redundancy analysis also indicated that dietary plant composition explained a significant proportion of variation in microbiome community.\n\nConclusion: These findings demonstrate that trophic differentiation among sympatric cervids is accompanied by coordinated variation in gut microbial community structure and predicted functional potential. The results support a close ecological association between dietary niche differentiation and host-associated microbiome variation, while causal and directional mechanisms require confirmation through longitudinal, experimental, and direct functional studies.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Heilongjiang Wildlife Institute",
    "College of Wildlife and Protected Area, Northeast Forestry University"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 9,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Yuxiang Liang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Wentao Zhang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Feifei Yang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Yilin Zhang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Ruitao Wei"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Chenbing Chu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Jiale Sun"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Heng Bao"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Weiping Li"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/446y1srtbxvgn.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3389/fmicb.2026.1980313",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13714927",
  "id": "446y1srtbxvgn",
  "issns": [
    "1664-302X"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1980313/full",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Original Research"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1312|Gut microbiota and health"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7221819457",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1980313/pdf",
  "pmcid": "PMC13714927",
  "pmid": "42953620",
  "published": "2026-10-14",
  "publisher": "Frontiers Media SA",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/446y1srtbxvgn.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:12Z",
      "native_id": "10.3389/fmicb.2026.1980313",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1980313/full"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T00:20:41Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42953620",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42953620"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-01T12:22:20Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13714927",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1980313"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biochemistry",
      "origin": "openalex:1312|Gut microbiota and health",
      "subfield": "molecular-biology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Diet contributes to microbiome and niche differentiation among three sympatric cervids",
  "title_text": "Diet contributes to microbiome and niche differentiation among three sympatric cervids",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-01T12:22:20Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/446y1srtbxvgn",
  "venue": "Frontiers in Microbiology",
  "versions": []
}