Cambodia,
South-East Asia

This September, Fauna & Flora and BCOMING took on a very special campaign: The Cambodia Takeover series, bringing attention to the vital work that is being carried out in the country. Every Thursday, we’ve explored different facets of Cambodia’s unique biodiversity, highlighting Fauna & Flora’s work while fostering a deeper understanding of the country’s natural heritage. Through this collaboration, we wanted to show the incredible work being done by Fauna & Flora and how it ties into the broader goals of the BCOMING project. 

The BCOMING project aims to conduct a thorough evaluation of biodiversity across various anthropogenic gradients and scales. In Cambodia, the scientific team is focusing on the bat interface as a key component, not only to assess zoonotic risk but also to understand broader ecological dynamics. Among the features being evaluated are the communities of bats' ectoparasites, which play important roles in bats’ ecosystem health and disease transmission dynamics between them. Bats harbor a diverse array of ectoparasites, including fleas, flies, ticks, and mites for examples, and are an integral part to the intricate relationships between them, their hosts, and the environment. Despite being often overlooked, these ectoparasites appear to be essential ecological components and can serve as indicators of ecosystem health. While poorly understood, these ectoparasites, through occasional changes of host, could facilitate the transmission of infectious diseases within bat colonies. Two families, Streblidae and Nycteribiidae, stand out for their unique adaptations and behaviors within the bat ecosystem.

In the heart of Southeast Asia lies Cambodia, a country teeming with biodiversity that has long captivated the imaginations of scientists and conservationists alike. Nestled within this rich tapestry of ecosystems, a dedicated research team from Université de Liège embarks on an exciting journey to unravel the mysteries of Cambodia's wildlife microbiome at the human-animal interface. Our team at Université de Liège in Belgium, consisting of Dr Pauline van Leeuwen and Prof. Johan Michaux, is leading the microbiome component of the BCOMING project. We aim to improve our knowledge of the influence of biodiversity and on microbiomes structure and zoonotic risks.