About This Project

The current rate of biodiversity loss calls for immediate actions. The recent commercialisation of portable scientific instruments enables DNA metabarcoding analysis in field-laboratory conditions. We have been developing a harmonised laboratory system for arthropod species identification to assess how environmental change is impacting biodiversity on the remote islands of the Aeolian Archipelago (Italy), which could be scaled up for similar studies.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

Understanding how global change is shaping species distribution and interactions is central to ecological research and biodiversity conservation. Fortunately, technlogical improvements can now help us generate vast amounts of data to try address this question in a rapid and effective manner.

The recent introduction of portable nanopore sequencing technology enables DNA metabarcoding analysis for species identification directly on site, overcoming the limitations that have long hampered the full potential of molecular analysis for biodiversity conservation. However the lack of harmonised and standardised approaches represents a major obstacle to its applicability at scale.

What is the significance of this project?

The aim of this project is to adapt portable sequencing for the realisation of an integrative, harmonised, and cost-effective approach to species identification virtually anywhere and by anyone. If successful, it will allow to monitor biodiversity and unveil key interspecific interactions at a fraction of the costs across the globe.

A standardised approach would allow researchers to assess how biodiversity is responding to increasing environmental change, while also producing results that are commensurable across study areas and providing crucial evidence for the implementation of sound conservation policies. Finally, the system portability could be scaled to capacitate scientists in remote areas with important benefits for biodiversity conservation worldwide.

What are the goals of the project?

Our overarching goal is to develop a standardised portable laboratory system for DNA metabarcoding analysis to rapidly assess how biodiversity is responding to global change even in remote areas. To this end, we are using portable laboratory instruments and optimising protocols for in situ DNA sequencing.

We aim to take the system to the remote Aeolian archipelago (Mediterranean sea) where we collect arthropods, which we will use as biodiversity indicators across islands. We will then process our samples to extract, amplify, and sequence DNA for in situ species identification. The system will also be used to study other important aspects of the archipelago ecology, such as the diet of the critically endangered predators via DNA testing of faecal samples.