车载移动式空气环境DNA技术在海南热带雨林国家公园的实践

Application of vehicle-based airborne eDNA technology for biodiversity monitoring in Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park

  • 摘要: 环境DNA(eDNA)技术是一种新兴的非侵入性、高灵敏度的物种监测手段。但固定式空气eDNA采集存在监测范围有限、机动性不足等问题。开发并验证了一种车载移动式空气eDNA采集方法, 旨在提升国家公园大尺度监测效率。研究选取海南热带雨林国家公园仙安石林区域, 通过对比车载移动式与塔式固定采集器的监测效果, 评估其性能差异, 并在劳动节与国庆节期间开展动态监测。结果显示, 车载移动式采集器在植物物种鉴定数和入侵物种检出数方面均显著优于塔式固定采集器。在两个监测时段中, 劳动节时段监测到物种210种(88科140属), 国庆节时段为167种(72科124属);劳动节时段的群落丰富度显著更高, 但群落多样性无显著差异;两时段分别检出入侵物种58种和54种。研究证实, 车载移动式空气eDNA技术能显著提升物种检出能力, 实现热带雨林生物多样性及入侵物种的高效监测, 为构建国家公园动态监测网络与防控入侵物种提供了可靠的新技术工具。

     

    Abstract: Environmental DNA (eDNA) technology has emerged as a transformative, non-invasive, and highly sensitive analytical system, offering critical support for biological monitoring and invasive species management. Although stationary airborne eDNA sampling has been preliminarily applied in tropical regions, its limited detection range and spatial inflexibility hinder its ability to meet the large-scale and high-resolution monitoring requirements of expansive national parks. To address these technical bottlenecks and enhance monitoring efficiency and landscape-scale coverage, this study developed and validated an innovative vehicle-based mobile airborne eDNA collection system, specifically applying it to assess plant biodiversity dynamics and detect invasive species within the complex ecosystem of a tropical rainforest national park. Initial calibration experiments were conducted in a controlled campus environment with a well-documented plant inventory to determine the effective sampling range and sensitivity of traditional stationary collection towers. Subsequent field validation was performed in the Xian′an Stone Forest of Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park, where a rigorous performance comparison was undertaken between the vehicle-mounted mobile system and stationary collectors deployed within the same spatial area. To capture temporal dynamics, mobile sampling campaigns were carried out during two distinct phenological periods: Labor Day (May) and National Day (October). Following high-throughput PE300 sequencing, the resulting metagenomic data were cross-referenced against global public databases and a dedicated Hainan regional invasive species database to elucidate community composition and species taxonomic diversity. The results indicated that the vehicle-mounted mobile system significantly outperformed the stationary collectors in both the total number of plant species detected (P < 0.05) and the capacity to identify invasive taxa (P < 0.001). Regarding species representation, mobile sampling successfully retrieved 96% of annotated species present in public databases and achieved a 100% detection rate for regionally known invasive species, confirming its excellent reliability and sensitivity. Temporal analysis revealed that the May sampling campaign detected 210 species (88 families and 140 genera), while the October campaign detected 167 species (72 families and 124 genera). Although community richness was significantly higher during the May period, potentially linked to seasonal peak flowering, no significant differences were observed in overall diversity indices between the two seasons. Furthermore, the system identified 58 and 54 invasive species during the two respective periods, demonstrating its precision in biosafety monitoring. In conclusion, this study confirms that vehicle-based mobile airborne eDNA technology represents an efficient and feasible approach for biodiversity monitoring in dense tropical rainforests. This method significantly enhances species detection rates and spatial sampling throughput, providing a reliable and scalable tool for constructing dynamic monitoring networks, as well as crucial data to support national park conservation management and proactive prevention of biological invasions.

     

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