Mr Tim Cutajar1,2, Dr Jodi Rowley1,2, Dr Kristine Bohmann3, Prof Ximena Bernal4, Dr Roberto Ibañez5, Prof Alistair Poore2, Dr Kasun Bodawatta3, Ms Agnete Madsen3, Mr Harry Hines6
1UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia, 2Australian Museum Research Institute, Sydney, Australia, 3University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark, 4Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA, 5Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Gamboa, Panama, 6Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and Partnerships, Bellbowrie, Australia
Biography:
Tim is a PhD candidate at UNSW Sydney, the Australian Museum, and the University of Copenhagen. His focus is on eDNA and iDNA detection of elusive amphibians using a variety of sampling techniques, including one he developed recently using iDNA from frog-biting flies.
Abstract:
To conserve species, you need to know where they are, and when. This can be a challenging first step, with many species being difficult to detect. eDNA is heralded as a powerful solution to this, and it can now be sampled from many different habitats – not just water. But so far, the proliferation of different eDNA sampling techniques hasn’t been matched with research into their relative performances, so deciding which to use is often done by guesswork. To combat this, we analysed the relative performances of eDNA sampled from water, leaf swabs, blood-sucking flies, and even air for the detection of amphibian species across all orders (frogs, salamanders and caecilians) and multiple ecological guilds in a tropical lowland forest in Panama. We also put all these techniques into practice in an attempt to detect some extremely elusive and even lost amphibian species in Australia.