Dr Rachael Impey1, Mr John Black1, Mr Craig Grabham2, Miss Erin Westerhuis3, Dr Andrew Weeks1
1EnviroDNA, Melbourne, Australia, 2GHD, Geelong , Australia, 3GHD, Alice Springs, Australia
eDNA is now routinely acquired from water samples through filtering and extraction, providing insights into biodiversity and waterway function worldwide. Here, we describe a new method of using terrestrial eDNA applied to conservation of an endangered species, the Pilbara leaf-nosed bat (PLNB). Due to its limited range, restricted to the Pilbara region of Western Australia, and the danger of current mining practices, this species faces extinction within the next 50 years.
Partnering with GHD Consultants, EnviroDNA has optimised the traditional water eDNA sampling method for terrestrial screening. Several previous studies have used the addition of specialised equipment to optimise eDNA sampling for terrestrial use, however the current method requires no additional equipment or protocol extension. Using a combination of liquid scat suspension and physical swabbing of roosts, subsequent qPCR analysis has revealed both positive and negative detections corresponding well with observed data. This provides near-real time species inhabitation data to researchers, and information on relocation site suitability.
The present study expands the utility and scalability of eDNA target species screening, and could further be optimised for metabarcoding biodiversity studies, further broadening the power of environmental DNA.
Biography:
Biographies to come