Advancing airDNA Experiment 3 BirT

Abstract

Effective biodiversity survey methods are crucial for monitoring ecosystems threatened by climatic fluctuations and anthropogenic pressures. Here we advance methods for the collection of a novel source of biodiversity data - airborne environmental DNA (eDNA) - and investigate whether it yields habitat- and season-specific signatures of terrestrial vertebrate communities. Using portable and low budget samplers, we sampled airborne eDNA in three protected nature areas across Denmark and show that air filters with a large surface area and the widest range of particle retention sizes yield detections of higher numbers of vertebrate taxa and show higher community homogeneity across samples.