Tournayre, O; Littlefair, J E; Garrett, N R; Allerton, J J; Brown, A S; Cristescu, M E; Clare, E L (2025) First national survey of terrestrial biodiversity using airborne eDNA. Scientific Reports, 15 (1). 19247 ISSN 2045-2322

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Abstract

Near real-time data across taxa are necessary to quantify biodiversity at regional to continental scales, infer trends and assess success or failure of landscape-scale conservation measures. Yet, we lack standardized methods and globally distributed infrastructures to tackle such tasks. Biodiversity surveys are still taxon specific or regional in scope and extremely labour intensive. In this study, we performed the first replicated national survey of terrestrial biodiversity using airborne eDNA collected by a national ambient air quality monitoring network. We simultaneously identified >1,100 vertebrate, invertebrate, protist, fungal and plant taxa spanning diverse life history traits and ecological niches. eDNA persisted on filters stored for 22 months at ambient temperature, suggesting a promising potential for eDNA in historical samples. Overall, citizen science databases and eDNA were complimentary with eDNA better mapping less charismatic and difficult to spot taxa, highlighting its capacity to better align with global conservation goals by including historically understudied groups. This infrastructure samples particles in air day and night almost continuously increasing the probability of detecting organisms regardless of their behaviour and meteorological conditions. Finally, airborne eDNA signals were relatively local, likely because of the deposition of the larger particles from the air over shorter distances and limited wind transportation at near ground level. Altogether, our results demonstrate that molecular protocols applied to existing air quality monitoring networks can provide standardized biodiversity monitoring and near real-time data. This approach is scalable to regional, national and global monitoring campaigns at relatively low cost.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Airborne environmental DNA, Metabarcoding, Biodiversity, Large-scale monitoring, Terrestriallife
Subjects:	Environmental Measurement > Air Quality and Airborne Particulates
Divisions:	Atmospheric Environmental Sciences
Identification number/DOI:	10.1038/s41598-025-03650-z
Last Modified:	11 May 2026 09:39
URI:	https://eprintspublications.npl.co.uk/id/eprint/10382