By Dr. Tiara Moore, Postdoctoral Fellow at The Nature Conservancy in partnership with the University of Washington Schools of Marine & Environmental Affairs and Environmental and Forest Sciences
How can we know what lives in the environments all around us?
We are utilizing a way of doing just that at The Nature Conservancy’s Ellsworth Creek Preserve using environmental DNA. Environmental DNA, or eDNA, is the genetic material found in a soil, water or air sample from species as they pass through an environment. Capturing this DNA allows us to provide a census of the diversity of plants, bacteria and animals in a particular area and use the data to inform strategies in how we make decisions that affect the preserve. Our eDNA research is just one path we are taking to restore old growth forests on the Washington coast.
Who goes there? Environmental DNA, or eDNA, sampling at particular sites can give us a census of the diversity of life found at Ellsworth Creek Preserve. Sampling comes from the soil, water and air.
With this new and cutting-edge field comes a lot of questions from scientists and the public. We interviewed Dr. Tiara Moore, who is a Postdoctoral Fellow at The Nature Conservancy and partnering with UW Schools of Marine & Environmental Affairs and Environmental and Forest Sciences, to find out more about this interesting topic.
Dr. Tiara Moore conducting eDNA research at the University of Washington lab. © Courtney Baxter / TNC
Question: How can dirt tell you anything about species diversity?
Dr. Tiara Moore: SOIL is SOOOO important and honestly the key to solving a lot of human-derived environmental issues we face today. Specifically, for eDNA though, as organisms interact in their communities, they shed skin and hair cells, pollen, feathers, etc., which drops to the soil and contains genetic information that can link them to that location, providing data on the types of species present in that environment.
Think of any detective show you’ve ever seen where a criminal leaves a fingerprint on a door and the investigators are able to identify them using that DNA and the crime is solved. Well, we are doing the same thing, with the “fingerprint” being as simple as an elk walking through the forest and the “door” being the soil its walking on. I collect that soil and find my criminal…I mean elk!
Question: How can eDNA help fight climate change?
Dr. Tiara Moore: eDNA is a tool that provides data that can be used to make management decisions, which mitigate and prevent the effects of climate change. For example, in our Ellsworth Project, we collected eDNA samples of soil near multiple types of tree species to assess the soil microbial community at each location. The status of the microbial community will provide us insight as to which tree species supports healthy soil and inform future tree plantings for continued restoration. We know larger trees store more carbon dioxide (the major climate change greenhouse gas) and we know healthy soil promotes the growth of larger trees. So healthy soil = larger trees = more carbon dioxide storage = carbon dioxide reduction = fighting climate change!
Dr. Tiara Moore conducting eDNA research at the University of Washington lab. © Courtney Baxter / TNC
Question: How long does it take to go from dirt to data?
Dr. Tiara Moore: It honestly depends on the size of your project! Setting up the materials and collecting the soil is simple, easily implemented into a community science project and can be completed in a single day or over a few weeks. After collection, the lab work begins and the soil samples are taken through a series of steps to extract, amplify and purify the DNA before it is sent to a facility to be processed (again, depending on sample size, this can take from one month up to a year). After the data are received back, the genetic material found in the samples is analyzed and a final species presence table is constructed, which can take several months for larger projects like Ellsworth or just a few weeks for smaller projects. So, from dirt to data…big projects = 9 months to 1.5 years; small projects = 6 months.
Watch the Video: Dr. Tiara Moore takes us to the research lab and shows us the results from the eDNA analysis.
The Nature Conservancy is at the forefront for making an innovative use of eDNA research to truly link science with conserving nature. The final species presence table will provide data that can help to inform restoration efforts globally by establishing best practices that promote healthy soil, and Tiara is so grateful to be involved!
So how can we know what lives in the environments all around us? Collect some dirt!
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