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Towards a Healthier Future: Koala Health Diagnostics Through Scat Microbiome
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  • Alejandro Oliveros Sandino,
  • Nicola Jackson,
  • Daniel Powell,
  • Julien Terraube,
  • Flavia Santamaria,
  • Ludovica Valenza,
  • Rosemary Booth,
  • Celine Frere
Alejandro Oliveros Sandino
The University of Queensland - Saint Lucia Campus
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Nicola Jackson
The University of Queensland - Saint Lucia Campus
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Daniel Powell
University of the Sunshine Coast School of Science Technology and Engineering
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Julien Terraube
University of the Sunshine Coast
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Flavia Santamaria
Central Queensland University
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Ludovica Valenza
Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital
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Rosemary Booth
Turner Family Foundation
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Celine Frere
The University of Queensland

Corresponding Author:c.frere@uq.edu.au

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Abstract

Conservation biology requires accurate data on how human-induced threats affect wildlife fitness and survival. Gut microbiota play a critical role in health by influencing physiology, nutrition, immunology, and behaviour. Advances in non-invasive sampling, particularly scat microbiome analysis, offer scalable conservation solutions. This study establishes a benchmark using basic machine learning algorithms (SVM, Ranger, glmnet, and xgboost) to predict health outcomes in koalas from non-invasive scat microbiome data. Scat samples from 125 koalas were analysed using 16S PacBio HiFi sequencing. By incorporating a phylogenetic approach and integrating additional metrics such as sex, age, and stress metabolites, which can potentially be acquired non-invasively, we achieved high accuracy in predicting key health outcomes, including body condition score (BCS), disease status, survival outcome, and weight. The algorithms achieved a minimum accuracy of 68% and a maximum accuracy of 84%. By establishing this benchmark, we set the stage for future research to utilize wildlife hospital infrastructure for larger sample collection and advanced machine learning, with the ultimate goal of developing a predictive health diagnostics tool for wildlife.
01 Aug 2024Submitted to Molecular Ecology Resources
02 Aug 2024Submission Checks Completed
02 Aug 2024Assigned to Editor
02 Aug 2024Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
14 Aug 2024Reviewer(s) Assigned