Continuous daily sampling of airborne eDNA detects all vertebrate species identified by camera traps

In the manuscript, we report on our study using airborne eDNA to monitor terrestrial vertebrate biodiversity and compare the results with detections made using camera traps. This is the first study that integrates results from air sampling in nature with an alternative biomonitoring approach.</p><p>At three study sites in the Netherlands with different habitats, we employed three commercially available air samplers to collect vertebrate airborne eDNA continuously during a one-week period. A total of 154 vertebrate taxa was detected using airborne eDNA, including all of those (n = 16) that were identified using camera traps set up directly around the air samplers, and an additional 106 bird, 24 mammal and 4 fish and amphibian species. The Burkard spore trap, used routinely for pollen monitoring, showed the highest number of vertebrate species and only three occasions where a mammal species was detected using a camera remained undetected via eDNA. We also show that unique species were found at the three locations using airborne eDNA, indicative of the habitat in which they were living, providing proof that airborne eDNA results are to some degree localized. However, not all detections could be accounted for. We provide a comparison of camera traps and airborne eDNA and explain the advantages of each.

Identifier
Source https://data.blue-cloud.org/search-details?step=~012153E416F5933B9E2F13E22D321F0ABD01F6D524D
Metadata Access https://data.blue-cloud.org/api/collections/153E416F5933B9E2F13E22D321F0ABD01F6D524D
Provenance
Instrument Illumina MiSeq; ILLUMINA
Publisher Blue-Cloud Data Discovery & Access service; ELIXIR-ENA
Publication Year 2024
OpenAccess true
Contact blue-cloud-support(at)maris.nl
Representation
Discipline Marine Science
Spatial Coverage (5.667W, 51.937S, 6.041E, 52.193N)
Temporal Coverage Begin 2022-07-04T00:00:00Z
Temporal Coverage End 2022-07-28T00:00:00Z