Ecologists have shown that the genetic material that species shed in their environment can reveal not only the existence of the species but also extensive information about the genetics of the entire population. This information can help researchers determine the origins of new invasive populations and prevent further invasions. Advances in environmental DNA (eDNA) also offer new possibilities for protecting endangered and vulnerable species.
Ecologists have found that a species' environmental DNA (eDNA) can provide insight into the genetics of an entire population, helping to track and prevent the spread of invasive species. This eDNA advancement could also help protect endangered species, providing insights similar to forensic investigations.
"To protect biodiversity, we are getting closer to what forensic scientists do every day at crime scenes," said study co-author David Lodge, director of the Atkinson Center for Sustainability at Cornell University.
In the new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers demonstrated that their method successfully field-sampled the invasive round goby throughout the Great Lakes and New York's Finger Lakes.
In the Great Lakes study, researchers collected water and tissue samples from round gobies at 13 sites from Lake Michigan to Oneida Lake and found that their eDNA sampling method could be used to detect nuclear genetic variation to analyze genetic diversity and variation within the species. This information is useful to natural resource managers because it can help them track the origins of new invasive populations and prevent further invasions or minimize harm by determining how invasive species move and how to stop them.
The breakthrough could also help scientists understand populations of endangered species without actually capturing already rare and vulnerable animals. Kara Andres, lead author of the study, said species experiencing population declines may lose genetic diversity, and eDNA could allow researchers to detect these declines earlier.
Andres was a graduate student in Lodge's lab and is now a postdoctoral researcher at Washington University in St. Louis. She co-authored the paper with co-authors Lodge and Jose Andrés, a Cornell Atkinson School Fellow and co-director and senior research associate of the Cornell Environmental DNA and Genomics Core Facility.
Jose Andrés said: "This is an important step towards realizing the full potential of genomics technology when applied to aquatic eDNA samples. In the near future, I foresee that this technology will allow us to study the status and health of elusive species. I believe this will have far-reaching consequences, especially in marine environments."