Ancient environmental DNA papers from the tropics and subtropics, literature review results

We conducted a systematic literature review of scientific publications on ancient environmental DNA research in tropical and subtropical countries. We considered studies as tropical or subtropical if samples were obtained between 0 - 36 degrees of latitude on both hemispheres. In addition, we considered additional studies from Japan and South America if samples were obtained from areas defined as subtropical between 1991 - 2020 by the Köppen climate classification. At conceptualisation, we used two search phrases: “ancient environmental DNA in the tropics and subtropics'' and “ancient environmental DNA in tropical and subtropical regions'' in Google Scholar, PubMed and Web of Science to get a general summary of studies, in addition to ascertaining that no comparable review exists. This was followed by a thorough Web of Science search (concluded on 30.7.2025, search terms listed in this FigShare project).

本研究针对热带及亚热带国家的古环境DNA（ancient environmental DNA）相关科研出版物开展了系统性文献综述。本研究将采样位于南北半球0至36度纬度范围内的研究界定为热带或亚热带研究。此外，若日本与南美洲的研究采样区域符合柯本气候分类法（Köppen climate classification）中定义的亚热带范围，且采样时间介于1991年至2020年之间，则此类研究也将被纳入本次综述。在研究构思阶段，我们通过谷歌学术（Google Scholar）、PubMed及Web of Science数据库，以「热带与亚热带地区的古环境DNA」及「热带及亚热带区域的古环境DNA」作为检索式开展初步检索，一方面获取相关研究的整体概况，另一方面确认目前尚无同类综述研究。随后我们在Web of Science数据库开展了全面检索（检索于2025年7月30日完成，检索词详见本FigShare项目）。