BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-05)

consuming,expensiveanddon’tnecessarily

yieldaccurateresults.It canbepotluckif a

snowleopardpassesinfrontofa cameraona

vastmountainside,orif a whalesharkcomes

withintaggingdistanceoutat sea.

EnvironmentalDNA(eDNA)looksset

tobea gamechangerforconservation.

Asananimalpassesthrougha

particularenvironment– whether

that’sswimmingthrougha bodyof

waterorwalkingoversoilorsnow,it

leavestracesofitsexistence,suchasshed

skincells,mucus,urineandfaeces.As

DNAcanbeextractedfromthetiniest

sampleoforganictissue,thesecellscan

provideenoughinformationforscientists

todeterminedetailsabouttheorganism.

Hence,thephrase‘environmentalDNA’,

asit is sourcedfromtheenvironmentthat

thecreaturehaspassedthrough.

BycomparingtheeDNAcollectedfrom

LochNesswiththeprofilesofknown

species,ProfGemmellandhisteamwere

abletoidentifywhatspeciesdoexistinthe

loch,andwhichonesdon’t.Predictably–

butperhapssadly– notracesofa monster

werefound,noranyDNAfrompotential

Nessiecontenders:catfish,sturgeonsor

sharks.Themostlikelyculpritsseemto

begianteels– unlessNessiemanagedto

hoodwinkthescientists.

Localconservation

Inrecentyears,environmentalDNA

analysishasbeenusedtosurveytheposter

childofBritishconservation– thegreat

crestednewt.Theseelusiveamphibians

havebeengraduallydeclininginBritain

andEurope,mainlyduetoa decreasein

pondsandbreedinggrounds.Overthe

years,theyhavebecomethescourgeof

thebuildingindustry– developmentsthat

riskdisturbingthemcanonlygoaheadif

thenewtscanbetransferredtoanother

suitablehabitat.Monitoringtheirpresence

hasthusbecomebigbusiness.

Sincetheyarenocturnalcreatures,

countingnewtshastraditionallyinvolved

a night-timevigil.ButtheadventofeDNA

analysismeansthatsamplingcanbedone

eDNA has been used to

survey the poster child of

British conservation – the

great crested newt.

BBC Wildlife 33

NEWS FEATURE

May 2020

NEWS FEATURE