Environmental DNA, also known as eDNA, is genetic material shed from animals and plants that scientists can use to tell what kinds of organisms are living in an environment. However, scientists currently cannot reliably use eDNA to estimate how many animals of a given species are in the environment, especially in smaller populations.
This is because a host of factors can influence eDNA concentrations that have nothing to do with population numbers. The research team looked how ways to use eDNA to evaluation population size with wood frogs.
"This project occurred by happenstance in a really wonderful way," Rittenhouse says."It's been a great collaboration between UConn and Washington State University." Traditionally, scientists have to capture, tag, release, and recapture animals to estimate population sizes. This requires a significant amount of time, money, and resources, making eDNA, which has been gaining popularity for more than a decade, a promising alternative if it can be made more reliable.
"When I study any species found in Connecticut or this region of the world, I ask 'what is the conservation concern for that particular species," Rittenhouse says"For wood frogs, we know that ranavirus epidemics happen in the wild, but we don't know how frequently or where. So, the big conservation issue for that species is their susceptibility to ranavirus."
She found that higher temperatures were associated with a decrease in the amount of eDNA in the early stages of the epidemics. However, when the disease progressed to the late stages, environmental factors did not have a significant impact, but the increased number of dead organisms, as a result of the progressing epidemic, contributed more eDNA.The researchers found that environmental conditions and the status of the epidemic did strongly influence eDNA in these frog populations.
"I think some of the biggest takeaways are that environmental factors do impact environmental DNA concentrations and that we should be cognizant of those," Parsley says.Chicago
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