Application of Environmental DNA for Biological Conservation

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 August 2017) | Viewed by 14912

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Biology, University of West Florida, Pensacola, FL, USA

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Environmental DNA is a non-invasive tool used for the detection of rare, hard-to-find, invasive, and endangered species in aquatic habitats. When traditional methods are difficult, prove to be inadequate, and/or organisms are found in low densities, eDNA can provide resolution. Specifically, organisms in aquatic environments leave a trace of slime, scales, urine, feces, and gametes they slide through the water. Water is collected, DNA is extracted, and the sample is used to determine if the target species is present. Thus, eDNA can be used to "take attendance", as a monitoring tool, and for conservation purposes.

This Special Issue provides the opportunity to highlight new and exciting research using eDNA, as well as emphasize technological advances using this tool.

Dr. Alexis Janosik
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Environmental DNA
  • eDNA
  • Detection
  • Conservation
  • Monitoring
  • Biodiversity
  • Metabarcoding

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

4158 KiB  
Article
Metabarcoding of Environmental DNA Samples to Explore the Use of Uranium Mine Containment Ponds as a Water Source for Wildlife
by Katy E. Klymus, Catherine A. Richter, Nathan Thompson and Jo Ellen Hinck
Diversity 2017, 9(4), 54; https://doi.org/10.3390/d9040054 - 21 Nov 2017
Cited by 31 | Viewed by 8166
Abstract
Understanding how anthropogenic impacts on the landscape affect wildlife requires a knowledge of community assemblages. Species surveys are the first step in assessing community structure, and recent molecular applications such as metabarcoding and environmental DNA analyses have been proposed as an additional and [...] Read more.
Understanding how anthropogenic impacts on the landscape affect wildlife requires a knowledge of community assemblages. Species surveys are the first step in assessing community structure, and recent molecular applications such as metabarcoding and environmental DNA analyses have been proposed as an additional and complementary wildlife survey method. Here, we test eDNA metabarcoding as a survey tool to examine the potential use of uranium mine containment ponds as water sources by wildlife. We tested samples from surface water near mines and from one mine containment pond using two markers, 12S and 16S rRNA gene amplicons, to survey for vertebrate species. We recovered large numbers of sequence reads from taxa expected to be in the area and from less common or hard to observe taxa such as the tiger salamander and gray fox. Detection of these two species is of note because they were not observed in a previous species assessment, and tiger salamander DNA was found in the mine containment pond sample. We also found that sample concentration by centrifugation was a more efficient and more feasible method than filtration in these highly turbid surface waters. Ultimately, the use of eDNA metabarcoding could allow for a better understanding of the area’s overall biodiversity and community composition as well as aid current ecotoxicological risk assessment work. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Environmental DNA for Biological Conservation)
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204 KiB  
Article
An eDNA-Based SNP Assay for Ungulate Species and Sex Identification
by Ruth V. Nichols and Göran Spong
Diversity 2017, 9(3), 33; https://doi.org/10.3390/d9030033 - 22 Aug 2017
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 5413
Abstract
Many processes in wild populations are difficult to study. Genetic data, often non-invasively collected, may provide a solution to these difficulties and are increasingly used to study behavioral, demographic, ecological, and evolutionary processes. Moreover, the improved sensitivity of genetic methods now allows analyses [...] Read more.
Many processes in wild populations are difficult to study. Genetic data, often non-invasively collected, may provide a solution to these difficulties and are increasingly used to study behavioral, demographic, ecological, and evolutionary processes. Moreover, the improved sensitivity of genetic methods now allows analyses of trace amounts of DNA left by animals in their environment (e.g., saliva, urine, epithelial cells). Environmental DNA (eDNA) thus offers new opportunities to study a range of historic and contemporary questions. Here, we present a species and sex diagnostic kit for studying browsing in a multispecies temperate ungulate assemblage. Using mitochondrial sequences deposited in Genbank, we developed four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for identifying four temperate ungulate species. We also sequenced portions of the Amelogenin gene on the X- and Y-chromosomes and developed six SNPs (three on the X-chromosome and three on the Y-chromosome) for sex determination. We tested the SNP assays on high and low quality/quantity DNA samples. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Environmental DNA for Biological Conservation)
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