Environmental DNA metabarcoding reveals the presence of a small, quick-moving, nocturnal water shrew in a forest stream
- PDF / 1,122,320 Bytes
- 6 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 29 Downloads / 127 Views
SHORT COMMUNICATION
Environmental DNA metabarcoding reveals the presence of a small, quick-moving, nocturnal water shrew in a forest stream Satoru Yonezawa1 · Masayuki Ushio2,3,4 · Hiroki Yamanaka5,6,8 · Masaki Miya7 · Atsushi Takayanagi1 · Yuji Isagi1 Received: 15 April 2020 / Accepted: 25 August 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Chimarrogale platycephala (Japanese water shrew) is an endangered, semi-aquatic mammal species in Japan, and understanding the C. platycephala habitat is vital for conservation planning. However, the species is difficult to locate using conventional methods, like visual observations and camera/video traps, due to its small size, nocturnal behavior, and low population densities in semi-aquatic environments. Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis has been used to survey distributions of macro-organisms, with the advantage of non-invasiveness, high sensitivity, and cost-effectiveness. In this study, we analyzed the eDNA in flowing water from possible C. platycephala habitats, using a metabarcoding approach that allows simultaneous multi-species detection. The eDNA of this species was detected at 2 of the 16 study sites. Based on eDNA screening data, camera trap surveys confirmed the presence of shrews at both locations. This study successfully discovered a previously unknown habitat of an endangered semi-aquatic mammal, using eDNA metabarcoding and camera traps. Wide ranging use of eDNA surveys will facilitate detection and appropriate conservation of C. platycephala, and can be applied to other critically endangered semi-aquatic mammals. Keywords Camera trap · Endangered species · Environmental DNA · Chimarrogale platycephala · Habitat screening · Mammal
Introduction Chimarrogale platycephala (Japanese water shrew) is a semi-aquatic mammal species endemic to Japan, that feeds on aquatic invertebrates and fish (Abe 2011). The species is red listed in 39 of the 47 prefectures in Japan (http://jpnrd b.com). Spatial and environmental habitat information is Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-020-01310-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
imperative to developing appropriate conservation strategies. Species habitats are conventionally confirmed using direct visual observations and camera traps. Such approaches are not feasible for C. platycephala because of its small body size and nocturnal behavior. The trap catch rate for this species is only 2.1–5.8% (Fujimoto et al. 2011; Saitoh et al. 2013). Moreover, camera traps with infrared sensors often fail to detect semi-aquatic mammals (Lerone et al. 2015), and are therefore time-consuming and ineffective for distribution surveys.
* Masayuki Ushio [email protected]
4
PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Kawaguchi 332‑0012, Japan
* Yuji Isagi [email protected]‑u.ac.jp
5
Faculty of Science and Technology, Ryukoku University, Otsu 520‑2194, Japan
6
The Research Center for Satoyama Studies, Ryukoku University
Data Loading...
