The air can have traces of the plants, fungi, and animals that live nearby, and scientists want to use that data to monitor threatened species.
, a team of researchers tested whether airborne eDNA that holds information on local plant, insect, and other animal life is captured on these filters as a by-product of the normal operations of air quality monitoring networks. These networks typically monitor for heavy metals and other pollutants.
They extracted and amplified DNA from the filters at two locations in the United Kingdom and recovered eDNA from over 180 different fungi, plants, insects, mammals, birds, amphibians, and other animal groups. The species list included many charismatic species, including badgers, dormice, little owls, and smooth newts. Additionally, they were able to pick up DNA from species of special conservation interest such as hedgehogs and songbirds.
“The most important finding, to my mind, is the demonstration that aerosol samplers typically used in national networks for ambient air quality monitoring can also collect eDNA,” James Allerton, a co-author and an air quality specialist from the UK’s National Physical Laboratory.. “One can infer that such networks—for all their years of operation and in other countries around the world—must have been inadvertently picking up eDNA from the very air we breathe.
The team is currently working to preserve as many of these samples as they can with eDNA in mind. The team says it will take a global effort to reach all of their trove of biodiversity data. “The potential of this cannot be overstated,” study co-author and Queen Mary University of London biologist Joanne Littlefair. “It could be an absolute game changer for tracking and monitoring biodiversity. Almost every country has some kind of air pollution monitoring system or network, either government owned or private, and in many cases both. This could solve a global problem of how to measure biodiversity at a massive scale.
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