Sampling environmental DNA from trees and soil to detect cryptic arboreal mammals

We tested 2 methods of eDNA sample collection around trees in New Jersey to determine if they were effective for the detection of arboreal mammals. We employed eDNA metabarcoding to determine detection probabilities for a suite of local mammals. In addition, we used a qPCR assay for the bat species Eptesicus fuscus to compare detection rates with metabarcoding.