Miss Shreya Pandey1, Dr. Marko Mutanen1, Dr. Henrik Krehenwinkel3, Dr. Aleksi Räsänen2, Dr. Stefan Prost1
1Ecology and Genetics Unit, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland, 2Geography Department, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland, 3University of Trier, Trier, Germany
Biography:
Shreya Pandey is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Europe Fellow currently pursuing her Ph.D. in the field of Ecology and Genetics under the I4WORLD Doctoral Programme at the University of Oulu, Finland. She holds a master’s degree in wildlife science from Amity University, Noida, NCR, India. During her master’s thesis, Shreya assessed the spatial distribution patterns of Smooth-Coated Otters and Fishing Cats in the eastern coastal belt of Odisha, India. Her research focused on understanding the impact of human disturbance on species presence and investigating potential overlaps between species distribution and human activities. Utilizing remote sensing and GIS tools, her findings revealed that both species were more frequently distributed closer to villages, favoring areas with easy access to prey, such as discarded fish or those caught in nets.
Shreya has also engaged with local communities in Eastern India to understand people's perceptions of wildlife and conservation. She has been involved in capacity-building and sensitization programs in collaboration with the State Forest Department. Currently, in her Ph.D. studies, Shreya is working on Environmental-DNA based metabarcoding to monitor fungal and arthropod diversity over a 40–60-year temporal scale. She is integrating this data with remote sensing techniques to observe changes in topographical features and various ecological parameters of Peatland and Forest habitats over time.
Abstract:
A significant portion of ecological research, conservation planning, and environmental policy relies on the assessment of biodiversity, encompassing the measurement of species presence, abundance, and temporal changes. Understanding biodiversity loss is crucial in preserving forest and peatland habitats and threatened species, and to support sustainable forestry and peatland management. Globally, biologists encounter challenges when utilizing classical biodiversity survey methods. Traditional methods, such as morphological identification, are often time-consuming, require specialized taxonomic expertise, and are selective, and often show low detection rates for rare species, as well as small life stages. As a result, there is growing interest in alternative approaches to effectively evaluate both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of biodiversity. Recent advancements in environmental DNA (eDNA) research have expanded the ability to assess whole communities from a single sample, primarily through metabarcoding. Only a few studies have attempted to combine eDNA-based with remote sensing-based biodiversity monitoring. However, the combination of both can provide us with much more resolution to better understand current and future biodiversity changes with minimal biases. In my project I use molecular, and GIS based methods to assess temporal changes in vegetation, land cover, and environmental variables and also assess the ability of remote-sensing as a tool to approximate biodiversity. These state-of-the-art biodiversity monitoring technologies help to develop streamlined approaches to assess an environment’s biodiversity efficiently and quickly. In use coniferous needle and moss samples collected via pollution monitoring initiatives in Finland to investigate arthropod and fungi biodiversity, key bioindicators for boreal and sub-arctic environments.