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.
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 research team set off to test this idea in Kibale National Park in Uganda, a place known for its rich animal diversity, and which has attracted biologists for decades. 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."To be honest, we did not expect great results," says Christina Lynggaard.
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, which has a wing-span of up to one meter, monkeys like the elusive L'Hoest's monkey and the endangered ashy red colobus, as well as rodents such as the forest giant squirrel.
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