The influence of season, habitat and diet on the faecal microbiome of the yellow-footed rock-wallaby (Petrogale xanthopus xanthopus)

Knowledge of an animal’s microbiome is becoming increasingly recognised as an important consideration in the conservation of threatened species, particularly in the face of wide-spread changes to climate and rainfall patterns. The yellow-footed rock-wallaby (YFRW; Petrogale xanthopus xanthopus) is endemic to the semiarid regions of South Australia and New South Wales. This study aimed to characterise the faecal microbial diversity and its relationship to diet and season/rainfall in two geographically separated South Australian YFRW populations with differing habitat characteristics. Sequencing targeting the 16S rRNA gene revealed that location was the greatest driver of faecal microbial differences (P < 0.01), with season (P < 0.01) and the interaction of location × season also statistically significant (P < 0.01). The main phyla identified throughout were Firmicutes and Bacteroidota. Diet varied between individuals with Acacia species commonly detected at each study site, which appeared to be linked with an increase in the proportion of Firmicutes present, although further sampling is required to confirm this. Further research and continued long term monitoring is required to understand microbial functions, how the role of these microbes may affect an individual’s health, and how faecal microbiome can be manipulated to increase a species’ resilience to dry times and drought.