Mauna Dasari

Host-associated microbiomes are plastic ecological communities that help hosts adapt to changing environmental conditions. However, research on gut assembly has largely focused on single host species rather than interconnectivity between host species. I will create a tractable system of multiple frog species that naturally co-occur at PLE to compare the relative importance of eco-evolutionary processes and identify causal drivers of gut assembly. Animals will be exposed to stressors based on climate change projections for western Pennsylvania to test whether interconnectivity has fitness benefits. This research is foundational to understanding how microbiome structure scales across communities and informing local management decisions.