Detecting a Vast Diversity of Rainforest Animals by Swabbing Their DNA from Leaves
In the context of accelerating rates of global biodiversity loss, tracking changes in wildlife is instrumental to inform adaptive management strategies and conserve biodiversity. At the same time, the majority of emerging infectious diseases have their origins in wild animal populations. Thus, understanding which animal species are where is an important first step for estimating and potentially reducing the risk of infectious disease emergence into human populations.
The study was led by molecular ecologist Dr Christina Lynggaard (Helmholtz Institute for One Health and Globe Institute at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark) and community ecologist Dr Jan Gogarten (Helmholtz Institute for One Health and Department of Applied Zoology and Nature Conservation at the University of Greifswald, Germany). It aimed to determine the species composition in a specific area using simple methods. The research team set off to test this idea in Kibale National Park in Uganda. The team ventured into the dense tropical forest armed with 24 cotton buds and the unusual task of swabbing leaves for three minutes with each of them, essentially to clean as many leaves as they could within the timeframe.
The researchers detected an average of nearly eight animal species in each of the cotton buds. These species spanned a huge diversity of mammals and birds from the very large and endangered African elephant to a very small species of sunbird. Detected animals included the hammer-headed fruit bat, monkeys like the elusive L'Hoest's monkey and the endangered ashy red colobus, as well as rodents such as the forest giant squirrel. A huge diversity of birds was detected, including the great blue turaco and the endangered gray parrot. Researchers demonstrate that a vast multitude of birds and mammals can be detected by simply swabbing the DNA left behind by animals from leaves. They showcased the power of this approach in an ecosystem that hosts a ton of wildlife and where detecting animals has historically proven extremely challenging -- the tropical rainforest.
