Detection and monitoring of insect traces in bioaerosols

Pumkaeo, Panyapon; Takahashi, Junko; Iwahashi, Hitoshi

doi:10.7717/peerj.10862

Cited by 19 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 68 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Considering all arthropod groups though, a substantial diversity of species was detected (91 unique arthropod species could be identified to species level), showcasing that eDNA from insects and other arthropods is present in the air and can be targeted for species detection and monitoring. This corroborates the results from Pumkaeo et al (2021) who report the detection of 55 species in 16 orders belonging to the phylum Arthropoda. Moreover, the unspecific amplification of the COI primers showed that eDNA from a wide variety of taxa is present in the air, including vertebrates, mollusks, annelids, plants, green algae, oomycetes, and many species of fungi—both ascomycetes and basidiomycetes (the former representing many filamentous and single‐celled species while the latter includes most species commonly known as ‘mushrooms’ that produce airborne spores).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…For insects, Pumkaeo et al (2021) collected air samples with an Andersen AN‐200 sampler with a flow rate of 20 l/min. As the samples were collected monthly, a single sample represented an approximate volume of 835 m 3 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To the best of our knowledge, only a single study has targeted airborne insect DNA in aerosol samples (Pumkaeo et al, 2021). As the previously cited studies on airborne eDNA, this effort was underway in parallel to the study presented here.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Airborne environmental DNA metabarcoding for the monitoring of terrestrial insects—A proof of concept from the field

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Biodiversity is in decline due to human‐induced pressures on ecosystems around the world. To be able to counteract this alarming trend, it is paramount to closely monitor biodiversity at global scales. Because this is practically impossible with traditional methods, the last decade has seen a strong push for new solutions. In aquatic ecosystems, the monitoring of species from environmental DNA (eDNA) has emerged as one of the most powerful tools at our disposal, but in terrestrial ecosystems, the power of eDNA for monitoring has so far been hampered by the local scale of the samples. In this study, we report the successful detection of insects from airborne eDNA from samples taken in the field. We compare our results to two traditional insect monitoring methods (1) light traps for moth monitoring and (2) transect walks for the monitoring of butterflies and wild bees. Airborne eDNA metabarcoding revealed DNA from six classes of arthropods, and twelve order of insects—including representatives from the four largest orders: Diptera (flies), Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), Coleoptera (beetles), and Hymenoptera (bees, wasps, and ants). We did not detect all species observed using traditional methods and suggest further directions for the development of airborne eDNA metabarcoding. We also recovered DNA from nine species of vertebrates, including frogs, birds, and mammals as well as from 12 other phyla. Airborne eDNA has the potential to become a powerful tool for terrestrial biodiversity monitoring, with many impactful applications including the monitoring of pests, invasive, or endangered species and disease vectors.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Airborne environmental DNA metabarcoding for the monitoring of terrestrial insects—A proof of concept from the field

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It further emphasises the need for incorporation of field replicates, as is recommended for other eDNA substrate types 36 . Studies of airborne eDNA monitoring of insects have not incorporated and contrasted field replicates 37,38 , however in studies on marine eDNA, a similar patchy distribution of DNA has been observed with paired field replicates not detecting the exact same community 39,40 . In the present study, we found no differences in the vertebrate composition between microhabitats, nor sampling sites.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, as with any novel method, optimisations are needed to further strengthen the use of airborne eDNA for vertebrate monitoring. The study adds terrestrial vertebrates to the recent work demonstrating that plants 49 and insects 37,38 can be detected in natural systems using airborne eDNA. Thereby, airborne eDNA coupled with DNA metabarcoding can become a key tool to complement existing methods to achieve comprehensive biodiversity assessments, something which is in great demand 50 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Airborne environmental DNA captures terrestrial vertebrate diversity in nature

Lynggaard

Frøslev

Johnson

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The current biodiversity and climate crises highlight the need for efficient tools to monitor terrestrial ecosystems. Here, we provide evidence for the use of airborne eDNA analyses as a novel method to detect terrestrial vertebrate communities in nature. Metabarcoding of 143 airborne eDNA samples collected during three days in Aamosen Nature Park, Denmark, yielded 64 bird, mammal, fish and amphibian taxa, representing about a quarter of the 210 wild terrestrial vertebrates that have been registered in the greater Aamosen area through years of compiling observational data. We provide evidence for the spatial movement and temporal patterns of airborne eDNA and for the influence of weather conditions on vertebrate detections. This study demonstrates airborne eDNA for high-resolution biomonitoring of vertebrates in terrestrial systems and elucidates its potential to guide global nature management and conservation efforts in the ongoing biodiversity crisis.

show abstract

Using environmental DNA to investigate avian interactions with flowering plants

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Animal pollination is an important and highly valued ecosystem function and the role of birds as pollinators is increasingly acknowledged. However, such interactions can be challenging to document and often require extensive field programs. Over the last decade, environmental DNA (eDNA) has been analyzed from several different contemporary sample types, such as water, soil, flowers, and air. The applications of these studies include biodiversity monitoring, detection of endangered species, community compositions, and more recently, flower–arthropod interactions. However, it remains unknown whether flower eDNA is applicable to other taxonomic groups interacting with plants, as well as the deposition and degradation of eDNA on flowers. Here, we test whether eDNA from flowers can be used for detecting bird pollinators. In a controlled environment (an aviary with great tits [Parus major]), we show that birds leave significant traces of DNA on the flowers without observed visits (airborne eDNA). We further show that when birds had been in contact with the flowers, DNA concentrations increased to levels significantly higher than airborne background DNA. Subsequently, we sampled five clusters of wild flowers in Papua New Guinea and detected four species of birds, two of which are nectar‐feeders, and one that is an insectivorous species known to visit flowers. These four bird species were regularly seen in the area and caught in mist‐nets in the days prior to sampling of the flowers. In total, 29 bird species were recorded (18 mist‐netted) in the area and of these, eight are nectarivorous. Our quantitative approach suggests that it is possible to distinguish airborne background bird DNA deposited on flowers from actual flower visits of birds in the wild, although this might be highly context‐specific. Our findings are of broad interest within research on ecosystem functioning, biotic interactions, and plant–animal mutualism.

show abstract

Detection and monitoring of insect traces in bioaerosols

Cited by 19 publications

References 68 publications

Airborne environmental DNA metabarcoding for the monitoring of terrestrial insects—A proof of concept from the field

Airborne environmental DNA metabarcoding for the monitoring of terrestrial insects—A proof of concept from the field

Airborne environmental DNA captures terrestrial vertebrate diversity in nature

Using environmental DNA to investigate avian interactions with flowering plants

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About