Miss Christine Chivas1, Dr. Anthony Chariton1, Dr. Andrew Harford2, Dr. Adam Stow1, Dr. Tom Mooney2
1Macquarie University, Macquarie University, Australia, 2Environmental Research Institute of the Supervising Scientists (ERISS), Eaton, Australia
Australia has the highest rate of mammal extinction in the world. Since European settlement, there has been 39 recorded mammal extinctions, and currently a further 107 species are listed as critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable. To improve the conservation outcomes for these species, it is paramount to gain a deeper insight into their occurrences and distributions. Traditionally, this has been done through monitoring techniques that rely on physical capture, scat collection or audio/visual observation. However, such techniques require considerable resources, have significant ethical implications, and often have mixed success in the detection of small, shy, cryptic or rare species. With many threatened species displaying such traits, and with conservation resources often in limited supply, finding novel approaches that prove sensitive and ethical, while remaining cost and time efficient, is of the utmost importance. Recently, the use of invertebrate derived DNA (iDNA) from hematophagous, carrion or scat feeding invertebrates has shown promise as a sensitive tool for detecting a broad range of chordates. Here, we provide an overview of the application of mosquito derived iDNA for monitoring within the World Heritage Kakadu National Park. iDNA from both individual and bulk extracted mosquitos will be amplified using an array of primers, targeting the 12S and 16S mt rDNA genes, with and without human blocking primers. The resulting metabarcoding data will be used to provide a deeper insight into the diversity, occurrence, and distribution of the region’s unique biodiversity, and provide the foundations for an iDNA-based routine vertebrate biomonitoring program for northern Australia.
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