“Measuring Biodiversity from DNA in the Air”, Elizabeth L. Clare, Chloe K. Economou, Frances J. Bennett, Caitlin E. Dyer, Katherine Adams, Benjamin McRobie, Rosie Drinkwater, Joanne E. Littlefair2022-02-07 (heritability, genome sequencing)⁠:

• Environmental DNA can be collected from air samples collected in open environments

• Vertebrate eDNA carried in the air can be used to identify terrestrial animals

• Environmental DNA can be detected in air several hundred meters from the source

• Airborne environmental DNA can be detected from consumed prey following predation

The crisis of declining biodiversity exceeds our current ability to monitor changes in ecosystems. Rapid terrestrial biomonitoring approaches are essential to quantify the causes and consequences of global change. Environmental DNA has revolutionized aquatic ecology, permitting population monitoring and remote diversity assessments matching or outperforming conventional methods of community sampling. Despite this model, similar methods have not been widely adopted in terrestrial ecosystems.

Here, we demonstrate that DNA from terrestrial animals can be filtered, amplified, and then sequenced from air samples collected in natural settings representing a powerful tool for terrestrial ecology. We collected air samples at a zoological park, where spatially confined non-native species allowed us to track DNA sources. We show that DNA can be collected from air and used to identify species and their ecological interactions.

Air samples contained DNA from 25 species of mammals and birds, including 17 known terrestrial resident zoo species. We also identified food items from air sampled in enclosures and detected taxa native to the local area, including the Eurasian hedgehog, endangered in the United Kingdom. Our data demonstrate that airborne eDNA concentrates around recently inhabited areas but disperses away from sources, suggesting an ecology to airborne eDNA and the potential for sampling at a distance.

Our findings demonstrate the profound potential of air as a source of DNA for global terrestrial biomonitoring.

[Keywords: conservation biology, community ecology, environmental DNA, eDNA, species interactions, wildlife management, terrestrial ecology]

See Also:

• “Genome-scale sequencing and analysis of human, wolf and bison DNA from 25,000 year-old sediment”

• “Million-year-old DNA sheds light on the genomic history of mammoths”

• “Genomics reveals the origins of ancient specimens”

• “Excess of genomic defects in a woolly mammoth on Wrangel island”