The gastrointestinal tracts of animals are home to large, complex communities of microbes. The compositions of these communities ultimately reflect the coevolution of microorganisms with their animal host and are influenced by the living environment, diet and immune status of the host. Gut microbes have been shown to be important for human disease and health, but little research exists in the gut microbiome of the Amur tiger, which is one of the most endangered species in the world. In this study, we present the use of whole-metagenome shotgun sequencing to analyze the composition and functional structures of the gut microbiota in captive Amur tigers. Our results showed a high abundance of four major phyla in captive Amur tigers, including Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Fusobacteria. Moreover, at the genus level, Escherichia, Collinsella and Fusobacterium were most abundant in the captive Amur tiger fecal metagenome. At the species level, Escherichia coli, Fusobacterium ulcerans and Fusobacterium varium were the species with highest abundances in the captive Amur tiger gut microbiota. The primary functional categories of the Amur tiger faecal metagenome were associated mainly with Carbohydrate metabolism, Membrane transport and Amino acid metabolism based on the KEGG pathway database. The comparative metagenomic analyses showed that the captive Amur tiger fecal metagenome had a lower abundance of Spirochaetes, Cyanobacteria and Ascomycota than other animals, and the primary functional categories were primarily associated with carbohydrate metabolism subsystems, clustering-based subsystems and protein metabolism. We presented here for the first time the use of the shotgun metagenomic sequencing approach to study the composition and functional structures of the gut microbiota in captive Amur tiger.

Gut microbiota plays an important role in gut health, and its dysbiosis is closely related to the pathogenesis of various intestinal diseases. The field of gut microbiota and intestinal diseases has not yet been systematically quantified through bibliometric methods. This study conducted bibliometric analysis to delineate the evolution of research on gut microbiota and intestinal diseases. Data were sourced from the Web of Science Core Collection database from 2009 to 2023 and were scientometrically analyzed using CiteSpace. We have found that the number of annual publications has been steadily increasing and showing an upward trend. China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences are the country and institution with the most contributions, respectively. Frontiers in Microbiology and Nutrients are the journals with the most publications, while Plos One and Nature are the journals with the most citations. The field has shifted from focusing on traditional descriptive analysis of gut microbiota composition to exploring the causal relationship between gut microbiota and intestinal diseases. The research hotspots and trends mainly include the correlation between specific intestinal diseases and gut microbiota diversity, the mechanism of gut microbiota involvement in intestinal diseases, the exploration of important gut microbiota related to intestinal diseases, and the relationship between gut microbiota and human gut health. This study provides a comprehensive knowledge map of gut microbiota and intestinal diseases, highlights key research areas, and outlines potential future directions.

Livelihood strategies are an effective response to survival risks and stress shocks. Agricultural residents engaged in agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishery, who are extremely dependent on natural resources, are vulnerable to various livelihood risks. Therefore, the livelihood strategies of agricultural residents are increasingly receiving attention from researchers around the world. However, research on the livelihood strategies of agricultural residents has not yet been systematically analyzed through bibliometrics. Our study was based on 1424 publications in the Web of Science Core Collection database (WoSCC) from 2014 to 2023 to analyze the development history, research hotspots, and trends in the field. Bibliometric analysis was conducted on publications, countries, institutions, authors, journals, and keywords, as well as cited journals and cited references using Excel and CiteSpace software. The number of publications has steadily increased and showed an upward trend. The United States and China were the countries with the most contributions, and Chinese institutions were more active. Cooperation between authors was relatively weak. Sustainability was one of the most productive and highly cited journals. The research hotspots mainly included the relationship between climate change and the livelihood strategies of agricultural residents, the relationship between the land and the livelihood strategies of agricultural residents, the sustainable development of livelihood strategies of agricultural residents, and the characteristics of livelihood strategies of agricultural residents. This is the first time that bibliometric and visual analyses have been conducted on the livelihood strategies of agricultural residents, which may further promote development of the field and lay a foundation for future research.

The “Ten-Year Fishing Ban” policy in the Yangtze River Basin aims to restore ecological diversity but poses significant challenges for the fishermen in their transition to alternative livelihoods. This study focuses on fishermen who worked on Poyang Lake, using the sustainable livelihood framework and the theory of planned behavior, combined with fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) and descriptive statistics, to explore the interaction effects of livelihood capital, ecological cognition, and compensation policies on fishermen’s behavioral responses. Key findings include the following: natural, financial, and psychological capital are core drivers of enhanced ecological cognition, with combined effects significantly increasing sensitivity to policy and environmental changes through pathways like “ecological transition drive”, “knowledge adaptation support”, and “multi-cooperation synergy”. Attitude, perceived behavioral control, and compensation policy transparency are crucial for positive responses, while social norms and policy fairness can compensate for individual motivation deficits, forming pathways like “ecological drive-policy recognition” and “norm drive-social support”. Current issues such as low compensation standards, insufficient retraining, and gender differences limit policy effectiveness. Optimizing measures like differentiated fishing permits, dynamic compensation mechanisms, and cultural empowerment are needed to balance ecological protection and social equity. The study suggests enhancing financial and psychological capital, improving vocational training systems, and increasing policy transparency to provide theoretical and practical references for sustainable global fisheries management.