Herpetology Lab, Department of Wildlife Management, Faculty of Forestry, Range Management and Wildlife, Pir Mehr Ali Shah, Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, Rawalpindi, 46000, Pakistan.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
Sci Rep. 2022 Apr 4;12(1):5624. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-09084-1.
Wildlife monitoring programs are instrumental for the assessment of species, habitat status, and for the management of factors affecting them. This is particularly important for species found in freshwater ecosystems, such as amphibians, as they have higher estimated extinction rates than terrestrial species. We developed and validated two species-specific environmental DNA (eDNA) protocols and applied them in the field to detect the Hazara Torrent Frog (Allopaa hazarensis) and Murree Hills Frog (Nanorana vicina). Additionally, we compared eDNA surveys with visual encounter surveys and estimated site occupancy. eDNA surveys resulted in higher occurrence probabilities for both A. hazarensis and N. vicina than for visual encounter surveys. Detection probability using eDNA was greater for both species, particularly for A. hazarensis. The top-ranked detection model for visual encounter surveys included effects of both year and temperature on both species, and the top-ranked occupancy model included effects of elevation and year. The top-ranked detection model for eDNA data was the null model, and the top-ranked occupancy model included effects of elevation, year, and wetland type. To our knowledge, this is the first time an eDNA survey has been used to monitor amphibian species in the Himalayan region.
野生动物监测项目对于评估物种、栖息地状况以及管理影响它们的因素非常重要。对于在淡水生态系统中发现的物种，如两栖动物，这一点尤为重要，因为它们的灭绝率估计比陆地物种高。我们开发并验证了两种特定于物种的环境 DNA(eDNA) 协议，并将其应用于野外，以检测 Hazara 激流蛙 (Allopaa hazarensis) 和 Murree Hills 蛙 (Nanorana vicina)。此外，我们将 eDNA 调查与目视邂逅调查进行了比较，并估计了地点占有率。与目视邂逅调查相比，eDNA 调查对 A. hazarensis 和 N. vicina 的出现概率更高。对于这两个物种，使用 eDNA 的检测概率都更大，特别是对于 A. hazarensis。目视邂逅调查的最佳检测模型包括两种物种的年份和温度的影响，而最佳的占有率模型包括海拔和年份的影响。eDNA 数据的最佳检测模型是零模型，最佳占有率模型包括海拔、年份和湿地类型的影响。据我们所知，这是首次在喜马拉雅地区使用 eDNA 调查来监测两栖动物物种。
