ReviewNature ecology & evolution2020
Microbial transmission in animal social networks and the social microbiome.
Review in Nature ecology & evolution, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 115 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
115 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Gut protozoa of wild rodents - a meta-analysis.Parasitology · 2024Pooled it
- The adaptation of the gut microbiome to social environmental changes in an Asian langur.iScience · 2026Article
- Cryptic Interactions in a Marine Microcosm: Sponges Shape the Microbiome of a Resident Goby.Molecular ecology · 2026Article
- How do anthropogenic changes affect wildlife microbiomes?PLoS biology · 2026Article
- Brain Transcriptomic Reprogramming and Comb-Associated Microbiome Variation During the Larva-To-Pupa Transition in Apis Mellifera.Archives of insect biochemistry and physiology · 2026Article
- Social organization and habitat use shape the gut microbiome of a marine fish.The Journal of animal ecology · 2026Article
- Sex and social group altered the gut microbiome and fecal metabolome in the critically endangered Yangtze finless porpoise (Current zoology · 2026Article
- The island biology of the host microbiome.Trends in microbiology · 2026Review
- Humans as an extended phenotype of their microbiota.Theory in biosciences = Theorie in den Biowissenschaften · 2026Article
- The Gut Microbiome Profile of Lions in Etosha National Park, Namibia.Research square · 2026Article
- Society and the Microbiome: A Biopsychosocial Window Into Comprehensive Well-Being: A Review.Health science reports · 2026Article
- The gut microbiome shapes social behaviour across animal species.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2026Review
- The Importance of Sociality and Diet in Explaining Variation in the Bonobo Gut Microbiota.American journal of primatology · 2026Article
- Social microbiome transmission predicts microbial specialization and host lifespan in a wild primate.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Microbial transmission among giant panda, sympatric wildlife, and domesticated animals.iScience · 2026Article
- Social Structure and Interactions Differentially Shape Aerotolerant and Anaerobic Gut Microbiomes in a Cooperative Breeding Species.Molecular ecology · 2026Article
- Gut microbiome community structure correlates with different behavioral phenotypes in the Belyaev Farm-Fox Experiment.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Characterising the gut microbiome of six Australian marsupials reveals captivity constrains microbiome.Animal microbiome · 2026Article
- Two kinds of evolutionary individuals: the concept of common interest as an evolutionary foundation of dualism on biological individuality.History and philosophy of the life sciences · 2026Article
- Marginal link between sociality and gut microbiome in disparate mammalian hosts.FEMS microbes · 2026Article
55 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Host-associated microbiomes play an increasingly appreciated role in animal metabolism, immunity and health. The microbes in turn depend on their host for resources and can be transmitted across the host's social network. In this Perspective, we describe how animal social interactions and networks may provide channels for microbial transmission. We propose the 'social microbiome' as the microbial metacommunity of an animal social group. We then consider the various social and environmental forces that are likely to influence the social microbiome at multiple scales, including at the individual level, within social groups, between groups, within populations and species, and finally between species. Through our comprehensive discussion of the ways in which sociobiological and ecological factors may affect microbial transmission, we outline new research directions for the field.
Indexed as
Identifiers
32572221What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.