Environmental DNA (eDNA) is the set of DNA molecules (i.e. deoxyribonucleic acid which encodes the genetic information necessary for the functioning of living beings) of various origins present in a non-biological matrix, such as water, soil or the air. His research through sophisticated molecular biology techniques allows the implementation of traditional biomonitoring methods, especially for the search for rare or difficult to contact species. The starting principle is very simple: if I find the DNA of a species, even without having directly sighted it, I know that it is present.
Within the Pitem – Biodiv’Alp cross-border project, the Arpal Biodiversity office staff took part, with the Liguria Region and the University of Florence, in a study in the Imperia area to evaluate the presence of two freshwater species of particular interest conservation, the European crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes) and the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) in eight sites distributed in four river basins. The Eurasian otter, considered extinct in the study area since the 1980s, was recently observed in the Roia basin straddling the Italian-French border, while the crayfish has seen a fragmentation and contraction of populations in recent decades.
In this case, eDNA analyzes made it possible to confirm the presence of both species in some of the selected rivers and detected the DNA of the Eurasian otter where the species had not yet been observed recently through traditional monitoring methods, thus improving knowledge on the its regional distribution. This study has therefore made it possible to confirm how eDNA-based monitoring approaches are valuable tools to support researchers and land management authorities to assess the presence of rare and elusive species and help implement large-scale protection and management plans. local.
In the Arpal laboratories, thanks to the new instrumentation with genomic sequence and digital PCR, we will continue to develop the environmental DNA research and analysis method also through new projects that will affect other animal groups including fish and amphibians. The aim is obviously to be able to arrive at a standardized research method that allows on the one hand to have an evaluation of the conservation status of species of particular conservation interest and on the other that allows to have a tool for the early detection of invasive alien species which, together with habitat disturbance and climate change, is one of the main drivers of biodiversity erosion.
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Tags: Thematic news monitoring Arpal Environmental DNA
