Systematic literature review of ancient environmental DNA research in tropical and subtropical countries

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).