YSM Issue 95.1

Ecology / Environment
FOCUS
Subalusky Picnic Rock Hippo Pool.
neighbors swim around in feces, not only
are the animals propagating their own gut
microbiota but that of an entire ecosystem.
Our current understanding of ecosystems, and
the organisms that comprise the biodiversity
of the ecosystem, are largely limited to what
we can see and touch. However, the team’s
work with the hippos’ gut microbiota, and
consequently, the river ecosystem microbiota,
point to the importance and ubiquity of
microorganisms. Without them, the entire
river ecosystem could collapse. “When species
cohabitate, I think it’s really important that we
acknowledge that every organism living in
the Masai Mara is sharing their microbes,”
Dutton said. “The more diversity you have
on the landscape, the more of a chance that
you’re going to get the correct colonization in
your gut that helps you survive.”
But even if the hippo meta-gut is crucial
to the river ecosystem, why should this
matter to us? If the ecosystem functions,
as far as the planet-conscious person is
concerned, there isn’t much harm. And yet,
the preservation of biodiversity, beyond
just the preservation of ecosystems, is one
of the central goals of ecology. Dutton
explained the difference between a partially
functioning ecosystem and an effectively
functioning ecosystem. “Biodiversity is
so important, specifically [when we’re]
looking at the effective functioning of
ecosystems,” Dutton said. “When we throw
ecosystems out of whack, that’s when we
start to get these problems of excess carbon
in the atmosphere from CO2, methane,
PHOTO COURTESY OF CHRISTOPHER DUTTON VIA JENNY WONG
and nitrous oxide.” Thus, the preservation
of the gut microbiome of the larger species,
like hippos and beavers, in the Masai Mara
is just as important to the functioning of
geochemical systems as the preservation of
the observable species themselves.
Future Steps
Next, Dutton wants to specifically identify
the taxa of the hippos’ gut microbiota
involved in nitrogen and carbon recycling
that ultimately contribute to the growth
and survival of plants, animals, and our
planet. He will work with the hippos at an
ABOUT THE
AUTHORS
experimental stream facility at Disney and
do detailed sampling of the biochemistry in
microbial communities. Specifically, Dutton
is excited about using metatranscriptomics,
a technique that sequences the active
genetic code in a cell to indicate what
functions the cell is carrying out in realtime.
Identifying the communities of
microbiota that are functioning will enable
the team to distinguish between the species
that are present in the feces and those that
play significant roles in the functioning of
the meta-gut ecosystem.
Ultimately, the hippo meta-gut is a
microcosm of all ecosystems, where
the role of the microbiota has been
largely underestimated. The respective
focuses of ecologists and microbiologists
studying this have been largely divergent
until the concept of meta-guts was shown
to be critical to the geochemical cycles
that improve the welfare of the entire
ecosystem and, ultimately, the entire
planet. Thus, as we focus on the warming
of the planet and the accumulation of
carbon in the atmosphere, we must
consider the preservation of biodiversity,
from the smallest species to the largest.
Though it might seem unexpected to
think that part of the solution to climate
change and ecological preservation
is lodged in hippo poop, a better
appreciation of the interspecies relations
in an ecosystem and the roles
they play will fill a critical
gap in our understanding
of life on our planet. ■
HANNAH SHI &
RISHA CHAKRABORTY
HANNAH SHI is a junior majoring in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology and the
History of Science, Public Health, and Medicine. In her free time, Hannah enjoys dancing and
growing houseplants in her dorm room.
RISHA CHAKRABORTY is a first-year Neuroscience major prospect in Saybrook College.
In addition to writing for YSM, Risha plays trumpet for the Yale Precision Marching Band
and Undergraduate Jazz Collective, volunteers for HAPPY (Hypertension Awareness and
Prevention Program at Yale) and researches Parkinson’s Disease at Chandra Lab in the School
of Medicine. She enjoys cracking jokes and having philosophical discussions with her friends
and taking Choco Pies from her PL Jenny at the Asian American Cultural Center.
THE AUTHORS WOULD LIKE TO THANK Christopher Dutton for his time and enthusiasm
about his research.
FURTHER READING
Castledine, Meaghan, et al. “Community Coalescence: An Eco-Evolutionary Perspective.”
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, vol. 375, no. 1798, 23 Mar.
2020, p. 20190252, 10.1098/rstb.2019.0252. Accessed 27 May 2021.
www.yalescientific.org
March 2022 Yale Scientific Magazine 21