Development and optimisation of molecular assays for microsatellite genotyping and molecular sexing of non-invasive samples of the ghost bat, Macroderma gigas

Ottewell, Kym; Thavornkanlapachai, Rujiporn; McArthur, Shelley; Spencer, Peter B. S.; Tedeschi, Jamie; Durrant, Brad; Knuckey, Chris; Armstrong, Kyle N.; Byrne, Margaret

doi:10.1007/s11033-020-05544-x

Cited by 10 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 19 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…For example, male mala may be more active or have larger home ranges than females, as seen in bridled nail-tail wallabies ( Onychogalea fraenata ; Evans 1996), resulting in males having a greater probability of being recaptured via our survey methodology. A useful addition to our methodology would be a sex-linked molecular marker to explore such heterogeneity in detection rate by sex (Ottewell et al . 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scat DNA as a non-invasive method for estimating the abundance of the vulnerable mala (Lagorchestes hirsutus)

Treloar

Lohr²,

Hopkins

et al. 2023

Wildlife Res.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Context. Population-monitoring programs often use direct (e.g. live capture or spotlighting) or indirect (e.g. scats sightings) observations to estimate population abundance. Such methods, however, are often inadequate for rare, elusive, or cryptic species due to the difficulty in achieving sufficient encounters or detection rates. The mala (Lagorchestes hirsutus), a small native Australian macropod, listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, is difficult to capture, susceptible to capture myopathy, and not easily sighted in their dense habitat; consequently, the population size cannot always be estimated. The use of molecular markers to identify individual genotypes from non-invasively collected samples is increasingly being used in wildlife conservation and may be an alternative approach for mala. Aim. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of noninvasive scat DNA sampling to estimate the population abundance of mala. Methods. A panel of microsatellite markers was developed for the identification of individual mala via profiling of their scats. Scats were systematically collected from a wild mala population located in an 1100-ha fenced reserve in Western Australia. Individual genotypes were determined using the microsatellite markers, and the abundance of mala was estimated using the genotypes with spatially explicit capture-recapture (SECR) and mark-resight analyses. Key results. The genetic markers proved variable and with sufficient exclusionary power to confidently identify unique individuals (mean locus genotyping error rate: 3.1%). Individual genetic identification from scat sampling, when used with traditional mark-recapture/resight analytical models, provides feasible estimates of population abundance. This is the first reliable abundance estimate of this mala population, suggesting a >70% increase in population size since the initial reintroduction of 64 individuals in 2011-13. Conclusions. Given the inherent difficulties in surveying mala, this approach would be valuable to ensure effective monitoring of the few remaining fenced and island mala populations to prevent further decline of this vulnerable species. Implications. This is the first study to identify species-specific microsatellite markers for mala and use genetic-capture sampling with scat DNA to estimate the abundance of a mala population. The study provides an evaluation of a valuable species monitoring technique that can be applied to other rare, elusive, or cryptic threatened species.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scat DNA as a non-invasive method for estimating the abundance of the vulnerable mala (Lagorchestes hirsutus)

Treloar

Lohr²,

Hopkins

et al. 2023

Wildlife Res.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Detailed intra-regional genetic analysis is underway in several areas of the Pilbara (e.g. Ottewell et al 2017;Ottewell et al 2019;Sun et al 2021) that show high levels of relatedness over short distances, low levels of relatedness over longer distances up to 300 km and occasional longdistance dispersals (up to 268 km) have been reported (Ottewell et al 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Satellite tracking Ghost Bats (Macroderma gigas) in the Pilbara, Western Australia

Bullen¹,

Reiffer²,

Trainer³

2023

Rec West Aust Mus

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Little is known about the extent of the foraging habitat and characteristics of the threatened Ghost Bat (Macroderma gigas) in the arid regions of Western Australia. We used GPS satellite tracking technology to accurately measure the Pilbara Ghost Bat's foraging characteristics. We provide detailed foraging and commuting data for ten bats, eight males and two females tracked over multiple nights. From the time and location data collected, results for five foraging characteristics were calculated. These were the minimum time spent outside the diurnal roost, the time spent for short periods in a specific foraging area, the typical area used for during a foraging period, the maximum radial distance flown from the diurnal roost, and the minimum 'cave-to-cave' distance covered. The time spent outside the roost varied widely with bouts lasting from under half the night to the full period of darkness. The average time spent at a particular foraging area was 116 minutes during which the bats used multiple perches for typically 20 minutes each. Little pattern was evident in the areas used for foraging. The bats made use of the majority of an area available once they had begun to forage there. During foraging bouts, the average radial distance from the roost from all available data was 8.5 km and the maximum distances recorded was 17.7 km. The average return flight distance from all data was 19.4 km with a maximum length of 41 km. One bat totaled over 90 km in four nights. A one-way commute of 27.4 km was also recorded. The Pilbara Ghost Bat is confirmed to be foraging across a varied habitat and over distances not previously recognised. Generally, thinly wooded areas of Mulga, other Acacia or Eucalypt spp. or linear woodland features are preferred in areas with a moderate percentage of open ground (typically 30-70%) to facilitate the perch and sally 'surface' foraging strategy used for terrestrial prey. No pattern was evident in substrate type.

show abstract

“…The method continues to grow in application to population monitoring of diverse species globally (Carroll et al 2018;Lamb et al 2019). Within Australia, non-invasive DNA sampling has been applied in a number of laboratories in government organisations and universities, not only to the study of rock wallabies by a number of research groups but to all three species of wombat (Sloane et al 2000;Banks et al 2002Banks et al , 2003Walker et al 2006), the greater bilby (Smith et al 2009;Dziminski et al 2021), the ghost bat (Ottewell et al 2020;Sun et al 2021), the spot-tailed quoll (Ruibal et al 2009), the red fox (Marks et al 2009) and the koala (Wedrowicz et al 2013;Schultz et al 2018) and has formed a core method for data collection for long-term monitoring of endangered species (Horsup et al 2021).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We need to be careful not to dismiss one of the most powerful, ethical and informative threatened population monitoring tools for rock wallabies due to lack of capability or familiarity with the requirements for its implementation. With some notable exceptions (Ottewell et al 2020;Dziminski et al 2021), Australia does not have a strong track record of investing in technical expertise in genetics-based methods for threatened species monitoring in its organisations responsible for wildlife management. Our perspective is that, where this has not occurred, this has been a key reason for the lack of wider uptake or effective implementation of non-invasive genetic methods in wildlife conservation.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-invasive genetic sampling is one of our most powerful and ethical tools for threatened species population monitoring: a reply to Lavery et al.

Banks

Piggott

2022

Biodivers Conserv

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Noninvasive genetic sampling (genetic tagging) of individuals is one of the most powerful and ethical tools for threatened species population monitoring. A recent review of the threats to Australia’s rock-wallabies (Petrogale spp.) and the methods for their monitoring stated that noninvasive genetic sampling (faecal DNA analysis) is not viable for estimating population size and trends for species in this genus. We feel that it is important to respond as such statements have the potential to stifle the development and application of an important tool for threatened species monitoring and lead to lost opportunities for collection of high-quality data to inform conservation of these species. We take the opportunity to describe the breadth of successful application of noninvasive genetic sampling for monitoring rock wallabies and other mammal taxa, the research and development requirements for successful implementation of noninvasive DNA-based population monitoring and thoughts on why this powerful approach has not been implemented to its full potential in many jurisdictions. We need to be careful not to dismiss one of the most powerful and ethical threatened species monitoring tools due to lack of familiarity with the requirements for its implementation.

show abstract

Development and optimisation of molecular assays for microsatellite genotyping and molecular sexing of non-invasive samples of the ghost bat, Macroderma gigas

Cited by 10 publications

References 19 publications

Scat DNA as a non-invasive method for estimating the abundance of the vulnerable mala (Lagorchestes hirsutus)

Scat DNA as a non-invasive method for estimating the abundance of the vulnerable mala (Lagorchestes hirsutus)

Satellite tracking Ghost Bats (Macroderma gigas) in the Pilbara, Western Australia

Non-invasive genetic sampling is one of our most powerful and ethical tools for threatened species population monitoring: a reply to Lavery et al.

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About