Gray Emma L, Walker Faith M, Sanchez Daniel E, Marriott Savannah J, Baker Andrew M
School of Biology and Environmental Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Bat Ecology and Genetics Lab, School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA.
BMC Res Notes. 2025 May 27;18(1):237. doi: 10.1186/s13104-025-07302-3.
Small mammals such as the Julia Creek dunnart (Sminthopsis douglasi) may be difficult to detect using traditional trapping methods. Here, we conducted a pilot study to determine whether eDNA collected from soil and/or air could detect the presence of terrestrial vertebrates, including S. douglasi, in a semi-arid, open grassland environment.
Airborne eDNA analysis returned vertebrate DNA from five sample sites (n = 7), whereas soil eDNA analysis returned vertebrate DNA from a single site (n = 7). The Julia Creek dunnart was not detected in any of the experimental samples. However, several airborne eDNA samples did return strong matches to three terrestrial vertebrates, the long-haired rat (Rattus villosissimus), red kangaroo (Osphranter rufus) and brown quail (Synoicus ypsilophorus), all native species known to occur commonly in the study area. Overall, our preliminary findings suggest that the effectiveness of airborne and soil-derived eDNA in detecting terrestrial vertebrates was constrained by high human signal and low sampling intensity. For future studies, we recommend a number of field and lab-based refinements to increase the likelihood of detecting more taxa, particularly those that occur at low density.
Not applicable.
诸如朱莉娅溪袋鼬（Sminthopsis douglasi）等小型哺乳动物可能难以用传统诱捕方法检测到。在此，我们开展了一项初步研究，以确定从土壤和/或空气中收集的环境DNA（eDNA）能否在半干旱开阔草原环境中检测到包括朱莉娅溪袋鼬在内的陆生脊椎动物的存在。
空气传播eDNA分析在5个采样点（n = 7）检测到脊椎动物DNA，而土壤eDNA分析仅在1个采样点（n = 7）检测到脊椎动物DNA。在任何实验样本中均未检测到朱莉娅溪袋鼬。然而，几个空气传播eDNA样本与三种陆生脊椎动物有很强的匹配度，即长毛鼠（Rattus villosissimus）、红袋鼠（Osphranter rufus）和褐鹑（Synoicus ypsilophorus），这三种都是已知在研究区域常见的本地物种。总体而言，我们的初步研究结果表明，空气传播和土壤来源的eDNA在检测陆生脊椎动物方面的有效性受到高人类信号和低采样强度的限制。对于未来的研究，我们建议在野外和实验室方面进行一些改进，以增加检测到更多分类群的可能性，特别是那些低密度出现的分类群。
不适用。
