Abstract Detail

Frontiers in Botany: Environmental DNA as an Emerging Tool for Measuring, Monitoring, and Managing Plant Biodiversity

Davis, Mark [1], Molano-Flores, Brenda [2], Niemiller, Matthew [3], Benito, Joseph [3], Harper, Lynsey [2].

BeeDNA: Microfluidic metabarcoding reveals pollinator communities from flowers.

Pollinators provide essential ecosystem services and are  critical components of resilient ecosystems. Yet, pollinators  are suffering  staggering global declines leading to increased listing under the Endangered  Species Act. This presents  challenges for United States Department of Defense  installations. Range closures must occur to facilitate surveys,  but  conventional sampling is costly, time consuming, and increases range closure  time, which erodes mission  readiness and decreases lethality. Rapid, efficient,  and accurate assessment of pollinator communities is therefore  essential to  maximize return-on-investment. Here, we assess the potential for environmental  DNA (eDNA)  metabarcoding as a means to maximize return on investment.  Specifically, we test if microfluidic metabarcoding of flower-derived eDNA can  provide a viable method of  documenting pollinator communities. Our results reveal that our approach detected not only the focal species, but also beneficial  insect species released historically in the greenhouse as well as  common  arthropods known to occur in the region. In addition, field samples provided  preliminary support for  ex situ  validation of methods. In addition, by using a variety of approaches, we present an optimized work-flow for eDNA sampling, processing, and analyzing pollinator eDNA metabarcoding data. Our study demonstrates three  significant benefits of microfluidic eDNA metabarcoding of pollinator  communities: 1)  eDNA metabarcoding reduces both time and effort needed to  acquire the same level of information as and the  financial burden of conventional  surveys, 2) eDNA metabarcoding has the potential to detect federally listed  species,  3) eDNA sampling requires considerably less time in the field compared  to traditional methodologies, minimizing  range closure time and increasing  mission readiness, and 4) eDNA metabarcoding approaches can reveal complex  networks that undergird critical ecosystem functions and services, ultimately  allowing for an assessment of  ecosystem resilience.

1 - University Of Illinois, Illinois Natural History Survey, 1816 South Oak Street, Champaign, IL, 61820, USA
2 - University Of Illinois, Illinois Natural History Survey, 1816 South Oak Street, Champaign, IL, 61820, United States
3 - The University of Alabama in Huntsville

Keywords:
rare species
eDNA
plant-animal interactions
community ecology.

Presentation Type: Symposium Presentation
Session: SY3, Frontiers in Botany: Environmental DNA as an Emerging Tool for Measuring, Monitoring, and Managing Plant Biodiversity
Location: /
Date: Tuesday, July 20th, 2021
Time: 12:30 PM(EDT)
Number: SY3007
Abstract ID:604
Candidate for Awards:None