Browsed twig environmental DNA: diagnostic PCR to identify ungulate species
Abstract Ungulate browsing can have a strong effect on ecological processes by affecting plant community structure and composition, with cascading effects on nutrient cycling and animal communities. However, in the absence of direct observations of foraging, species‐specific foraging behaviours are...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-0998.2012.03172.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1755-0998.2012.03172.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1755-0998.2012.03172.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/j.1755-0998.2012.03172.x |
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crwiley:10.1111/j.1755-0998.2012.03172.x 2024-06-23T07:45:11+00:00 Browsed twig environmental DNA: diagnostic PCR to identify ungulate species NICHOLS, RUTH V. KÖNIGSSON, HELENA DANELL, KJELL SPONG, GÖRAN 2012 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-0998.2012.03172.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1755-0998.2012.03172.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1755-0998.2012.03172.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/j.1755-0998.2012.03172.x en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Molecular Ecology Resources volume 12, issue 6, page 983-989 ISSN 1755-098X 1755-0998 journal-article 2012 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-0998.2012.03172.x 2024-06-11T04:41:10Z Abstract Ungulate browsing can have a strong effect on ecological processes by affecting plant community structure and composition, with cascading effects on nutrient cycling and animal communities. However, in the absence of direct observations of foraging, species‐specific foraging behaviours are difficult to quantify. We therefore know relatively little about foraging competition and species‐specific browsing patterns in systems with several browsers. However, during browsing, a small amount of saliva containing buccal cells is deposited at the bite site, providing a source of environmental DNA (eDNA) that can be used for species identification. Here, we describe extraction and PCR protocols for a browser species diagnostic kit. Species‐specific primers for mitochondrial DNA were optimized and validated using twigs browsed by captive animals. A time series showed that about 50% of the samples will amplify up to 12 weeks after the browsing event and that some samples amplify up to 24 weeks after browsing (12.5%). Applied to samples of natural browsing from an area where moose ( Alces alces ), roe deer ( Capreolus capreolus ), fallow deer ( Cervus dama ) and red deer ( Cervus elaphus ) are sympatric, amplification success reached 75%. This method promises to greatly improve our understanding of multispecies browsing systems without the need for direct observations. Article in Journal/Newspaper Alces alces Wiley Online Library Molecular Ecology Resources 12 6 983 989 |
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Open Polar |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Ungulate browsing can have a strong effect on ecological processes by affecting plant community structure and composition, with cascading effects on nutrient cycling and animal communities. However, in the absence of direct observations of foraging, species‐specific foraging behaviours are difficult to quantify. We therefore know relatively little about foraging competition and species‐specific browsing patterns in systems with several browsers. However, during browsing, a small amount of saliva containing buccal cells is deposited at the bite site, providing a source of environmental DNA (eDNA) that can be used for species identification. Here, we describe extraction and PCR protocols for a browser species diagnostic kit. Species‐specific primers for mitochondrial DNA were optimized and validated using twigs browsed by captive animals. A time series showed that about 50% of the samples will amplify up to 12 weeks after the browsing event and that some samples amplify up to 24 weeks after browsing (12.5%). Applied to samples of natural browsing from an area where moose ( Alces alces ), roe deer ( Capreolus capreolus ), fallow deer ( Cervus dama ) and red deer ( Cervus elaphus ) are sympatric, amplification success reached 75%. This method promises to greatly improve our understanding of multispecies browsing systems without the need for direct observations. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
NICHOLS, RUTH V. KÖNIGSSON, HELENA DANELL, KJELL SPONG, GÖRAN |
spellingShingle |
NICHOLS, RUTH V. KÖNIGSSON, HELENA DANELL, KJELL SPONG, GÖRAN Browsed twig environmental DNA: diagnostic PCR to identify ungulate species |
author_facet |
NICHOLS, RUTH V. KÖNIGSSON, HELENA DANELL, KJELL SPONG, GÖRAN |
author_sort |
NICHOLS, RUTH V. |
title |
Browsed twig environmental DNA: diagnostic PCR to identify ungulate species |
title_short |
Browsed twig environmental DNA: diagnostic PCR to identify ungulate species |
title_full |
Browsed twig environmental DNA: diagnostic PCR to identify ungulate species |
title_fullStr |
Browsed twig environmental DNA: diagnostic PCR to identify ungulate species |
title_full_unstemmed |
Browsed twig environmental DNA: diagnostic PCR to identify ungulate species |
title_sort |
browsed twig environmental dna: diagnostic pcr to identify ungulate species |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-0998.2012.03172.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1755-0998.2012.03172.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1755-0998.2012.03172.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/j.1755-0998.2012.03172.x |
genre |
Alces alces |
genre_facet |
Alces alces |
op_source |
Molecular Ecology Resources volume 12, issue 6, page 983-989 ISSN 1755-098X 1755-0998 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-0998.2012.03172.x |
container_title |
Molecular Ecology Resources |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
983 |
op_container_end_page |
989 |
_version_ |
1802637978557743104 |