Quantitative synthesis of microbe-driven acclimation and adaptation in wild vertebrates

Abstract

Abstract We conducted a quantitative systematic review to evaluate the scientific evidence for the contribution of gut microorganisms to the acclimation and adaptation capacity of wild vertebrate hosts. After screening 1974 publications, we scrutinised the 109 studies that met the inclusion criteria based on 10 metrics encompassing study design, methodology, and reproducibility. We found that so far published studies were not able to resolve the contribution of gut microorganisms due to insufficient study design and research methods for addressing the hypothesis. Our findings highlight the need to shift from observational studies to experimental manipulations, where fitness or related indicators are measured, coupled with an update in molecular techniques used to analyse microbial functions.