Assessing environmental DNA metabarcoding and camera trap surveys as complementary tools for biomonitoring of remote desert water bodies

Biodiversity assessments are indispensable tools for planning and monitoring conservation strategies. Camera traps (CT) are widely used to monitor wildlife and have proven their usefulness. Environmental DNA (eDNA)-based approaches are increasingly implemented for biomonitoring, combining sensitivity, high taxonomic coverage and resolution, non-invasiveness and easiness of sampling, but remain challenging for terrestrial fauna. However, in remote desert areas where scattered water bodies attract terrestrial species, which release their DNA into the water, this method presents a unique opportunity for their detection. In order to identify the most efficient method for a given study system, comparative studies are needed. Here, we compare CT and DNA metabarcoding of water samples collected from two desert ecosystems, the Trans-Altai Gobi in Mongolia and the Kalahari in Botswana. We recorded with CT the visiting patterns of wildlife and studied the correlation with the biodiversity capture...

生物多样性评估是规划与监测保护策略不可或缺的工具。相机陷阱（Camera Traps, CT）被广泛应用于野生动物监测，其应用价值已得到证实。基于环境DNA（Environmental DNA, eDNA）的生物监测方法正日益得到推广，该方法兼具灵敏度高、分类学覆盖范围与分辨率优异、非侵入性以及采样便捷等优势，但针对陆生动物的检测仍存在挑战。然而，在偏远沙漠地区，分散的水体能够吸引陆生动物前来活动，动物会将自身DNA释放至水体中，此时该方法便为陆生动物的检测提供了独特契机。为明确特定研究体系下的最优监测方法，需开展对比研究。本研究针对采集自两处沙漠生态系统的水体样本，对比了相机陷阱（CT）与DNA元条形码（DNA Metabarcoding）的监测效果，两处生态系统分别为蒙古国的跨阿尔泰戈壁（Trans-Altai Gobi）与博茨瓦纳的喀拉哈里沙漠（Kalahari）。研究人员通过相机陷阱记录了野生动物的到访模式，并探究了其与生物多样性捕获结果的相关性……