Speaker
Description
Wildlife is returning to human-dominated landscapes as a result of reduced direct persecution, land abandonment, and active restorations, leading to ecological benefits such as species range expansions and the trophic rewilding of ecosystems. These recolonization processes can have important ecological and conservation benefits, not only helping to improve the conservation status of particular species, but also contributing to the recovery of lost ecological functions and overall ecosystem integrity. However, human-wildlife conflicts may also increase as a result of some species' range expansions. Effective monitoring is key to evaluating rewilding progress and anticipating its ecological and societal consequences.
Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding has emerged as a promising tool for biodiversity surveillance, enabling the detection of multiple taxa from environmental samples. However, its performance relative to traditional methods, and across different substrates, remains variable. Here, we present the first empirical comparison of eDNA metabarcoding and camera trapping in a rewilding site—the Oder Delta, spanning Germany and Poland. Using soil, water, and invertebrate blood meals (iDNA), we (i) develop an eDNA metabarcoding technique to complement traditional wildlife monitoring systems such as camera traps, aiming to provide information that has proven challenging to obtain in rewilding monitoring programs, and (ii) evaluate the effectiveness of eDNA versus traditional monitoring in detecting vertebrate wildlife. Preliminary analyses showed that the majority of species detected by traditional methods were also detected through eDNA metabarcoding, and additionally, ten species were identified exclusively by eDNA metabarcoding. We also assessed the comparative performance of each substrate, finding that water and, subsequently, mosquitoes were the most reliable and effective substrate for wildlife detection. Our findings contribute to optimizing biodiversity monitoring in rewilding landscapes.
| Status Group | Postdoctoral Researcher |
|---|---|
| Poster Presentation Option | Yes, I’m willing to present as a poster. |
