Microbiome | smithsonianmag.comhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/microbiome/RSS feed for MicrobiomeenWed, 21 Oct 2026 18:47:22 +0000African Elephants Shape the Savanna Ecosystem—and Continue Doing So Long After They've Died, Study Suggestshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/african-elephants-shape-the-savanna-ecosystem-and-continue-doing-so-long-after-theyve-died-study-suggests-180989718/At first, plants below an elephant carcass die. Soil microbes and plants grow back soon after, but only a few select species. Herbivores later come in to munch on the nutrient-rich greensWed, 21 Oct 2026 18:47:22 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/african-elephants-shape-the-savanna-ecosystem-and-continue-doing-so-long-after-theyve-died-study-suggests-180989718/Did Industrialization Gut Our Microbiomes? A New Study on Rural Foraging Communities in South America and Africa Hints the Answer Is Yeshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/did-industrialization-gut-our-microbiomes-a-new-study-on-rural-foraging-communities-in-south-america-and-africa-hints-the-answer-is-yes-180989658/Two groups—the Tsimane forager-horticulturists in Bolivia and the Hadza hunter-gatherers in Tanzania—remarkably share more than 1,200 gut microbe species. However, around 60 percent of them are rare or absent in people living in industrialized places, according to researchersTue, 13 Oct 2026 13:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/did-industrialization-gut-our-microbiomes-a-new-study-on-rural-foraging-communities-in-south-america-and-africa-hints-the-answer-is-yes-180989658/