Dr Harry Eyck1, Dr Liz Milla1, Dr Mariana Campos2, Dr Ben Gooden3, Mr Nunzio Knerr1, Dr Francisco Encinas-Viso1
1CSIRO National Collections and Marine Infrastructure, Canberra, Australia, 2CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, Floreat, Australia, 3CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, Canberra, Australia
Biography:
With a background in invasive species genetics and ecology, my work focuses on using cutting-edge technology, such as eDNA, to help detect terrestrial weeds.
Abstract:
Environmental DNA (eDNA) sampled from the air could transform the way we monitor terrestrial weeds. This is not only due to the relative ease of such methods, but also because they can be more easily standardised than traditional survey methods. These qualities mean air eDNA has the potential to be an ideal complement to current surveillance methods. While recent advances have proven that plant DNA is readily detectable from air samples, crucial questions remain. Foremost among these is determining how sensitive these methods are at detecting rare weeds in natural environments and establishing the optimal protocols for capturing their DNA from the air. We sought to examine these questions by conducting two experiments with soybean (Glycine max) as a substitute for a weed. First, we used a field experiment to test detection sensitivity in a realistic environment. We set up an outdoor transect line with soybean in the centre to evaluate the effects of distance, and plant density on detection. Second, we manipulated environmental variables in a controlled context within a glasshouse with soybean at a fixed distance. Here, we manipulated airflow, sampler height, sampling method, and target plant density. This experiment was designed to determine how these controlled covariates impact the detection and amount of eDNA sampled from air. We sought to demonstrate whether a targeted approach with air eDNA is effective at detecting a small, rare plant, and determine how environmental variables affect this. These results could help inform future efforts to detect weeds before they become established.