Dr Rachel Tulloch1, Dr Erin Hahn1
1CSIRO National Research Collections Australia, Black Mountain, Australia
Biography:
Dr Erin Hahn is a Research Scientist at the CSIRO's Australian National Wildlife Collection leading projects aimed at developing reliable platforms for airborne eDNA monitoring. She recently completed a postdoc at CSIRO focused on extracting genomic and epigenomic data from century-old formalin-preserved museum specimens. Prior to joining CSIRO she completed a PhD at the University of Arizona where she received a National Science Foundation Interdisciplinary Graduate Research Traineeship to support her study of temporal population genetics and epigenetics of endangered Sonoran pronghorn. Erin is a passionate science communicator and Science and Technology Australia Superstar of STEM alumnus.
Abstract:
Airborne eDNA is an emerging non-invasive method for detecting species by capturing and analysing genetic material in the air. This technique holds promise for biodiversity assessment and environmental monitoring. However, to transition airborne eDNA from research phase to useful monitoring tool, we must understand how DNA moves through terrestrial ecosystems and how environmental conditions impact DNA detection. In this study, we assessed UV light and temperature effects on species detection from simulated airborne eDNA in a time series spanning six months. We also examined the effects of filter size and sampling duration on single species detection through field trials. Our results show DNA persists in airborne particulates longer than expected, with temperature having a stronger influence on DNA degradation than UV levels. Using powdered dry tissue applied to multiple filter materials, we detected the target species (pig) for up to 180 days under three UV exposure regimes and two temperatures (23°C and 40°C). Temperature and time since deposition were the key factors in DNA signal strength while UV did not have a significant effect. In field trials, small filters (25 mm) collected sufficient DNA to detect species even after short sampling periods. Our findings suggest long DNA persistence can enhance detection of rare species but also poses challenges in determining current versus historical species presence. In this talk, we discuss how these insights can guide future airborne eDNA collection optimisation for ecological monitoring in Earth’s diverse ecosystems.