Reproductive Success in Equids

In long-lived species, recruitment is fundamental to population resilience. This applies to both wild populations and managed systems. In wild populations, poor recruitment can lead to long-term declines. In managed populations, poor reproductive directly impacts on production. This project will identify the mechanisms driving long term population decline and poor recruitment/reproduction. We will compare reproductive health, disease burden and nutrition in populations that are recruiting well versus populations that are recruiting poorly. Reproductive failure can occur from irregular cycling, failure of an embryo to implant, and pregnancy loss (resorption). Each is likely to have different environmental drivers. In humans irregular cycling is linked to poor condition, lack of body fat and high stress levels. Failure of embryos to implant is linked to micronutrient deficiency, lack of viability of embryos and external stressors (both social and environmental). Resorption/miscarriage linked to poor foetal viability and external stressors. To evaluate individual reproductive health, we will use biomarkers for reproductive hormones, nutrition status and immune/inflammation markers. We will use metagenomics to evaluate changes in microbiome, evaluate disease burden and assess diet quality and composition.