Scat DNA provides important data for effective monitoring of mammal and bird biodiversity

Fauna has long been neglected in the monitoring of ecological restoration, despite the key role they play in ecosystem function. Vertebrate surveys can be time consuming and costly, often requiring multiple methodologies and taxonomic expertise, making comprehensive monitoring cost prohibitive. Here we evaluate a new method of assessing mammal and bird diversity through the genetic identification of scat collections. Using DNA metabarcoding of scat collections from three bioregions we generated bird and mammalian assemblage data and distinguished between sites with different restoration histories. However, scat detectability was affected by environmental conditions (e.g. rainfall and soil), suggesting that our approach is most applicable at certain times of year or in arid (or semi-arid) environments with rocky soils, where conditions are favourable for scat preservation. Taken together these data provide a pathway to: plan, monitor and establish best-practice when restoring landscapes ...尽管动物群在生态系统功能中发挥关键作用，但在生态修复监测工作中却长期遭到忽视。脊椎动物调查往往耗时耗财，通常需要采用多种调查方法并具备分类学专业知识，导致全面监测的成本高到难以承担。本研究针对一种通过粪样基因鉴定来评估哺乳类与鸟类多样性的新方法展开评估：我们对三个生物区的粪样进行DNA宏条形码（DNA metabarcoding）测序，获取了鸟类与哺乳类的群落组成数据，并成功区分出具有不同修复历史的样地。然而，粪样的检出率会受到环境条件（如降雨量与土壤类型）的影响，这表明本方法仅在一年中的特定时段，或在利于粪样保存的干旱（或半干旱）多石土壤环境中应用效果最佳。综上，本研究数据为景观修复过程中的规划、监测与最佳实践标准建立提供了可行路径……