Use environmental DNA to measure biodiversity effectively and accurately

, published this week in The Journal of Communication-Biology,
describes the persistence of environmental DNA (eDNA) in the natural environment and the factors that affect its persistence.
accurate measurement of biodiversity play an important role in managing the environment, studying ecosystem functions and observing dying animals. Molecular measurement of eDNA is a recently emerging method of measuring biodiversity. It doesn't require much professional operation compared to traditional methods, and is fast, economical, and invasive. For example, when analyzing eDNA to observe an endangered animal, it is no longer necessary to capture, imprison, sample and put it back, because the eDNA collected in the environment in which the animals live contains the animal's DNA.
Despite the increasing use of eDNA analysis, there are many uncertainties and unknowns about this method, as its samples are taken from flowing and variable environments such as lakes and rivers.
Simon Creer of the University of Bangor and colleagues used four highland water-flowing, acid-base gradient-enclosed ecosystems to measure the degradation of various environmental DNA at different times and spaces. They found that eDNA lasts only two days, and that the acidic environment accelerates its degradation. In summary, their results provide an expected space-time framework for studying environmental DNA-to-factors affecting flowing water, contributing to the effective and accurate use of eDNA to measure biodiversity in real time. (Source: Science.com)