From only 20 liters of water gathered in one of the toughest settings on Earth, researchers find evidence of 187 taxonomic orders.
A team of scientists headed by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Appalachian State University employed environmental DNA (
From only 20 liters of water gathered in one of the toughest settings on Earth, researchers find evidence of 187 taxonomic orders.
A team of scientists headed by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Appalachian State University employed environmental DNA (eDNA) to record the breadth of high-alpine biodiversity on the world’s tallest peak, 29,032-foot Mount Everest (8,849 m). This important project is a component of the groundbreaking 2019 National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Everest Expedition, the largest single scientific expedition to the mountain in history.
The scientists gathered eDNA from water samples over a four-week period in 10 ponds and streams between 14,763 feet (4,500 meters) and 18,044 feet (5,500 meters), publishing their results in the journal iScience. The locations comprised regions of the aeolian zone, which extends above the range of flowering plants and shrubs at the topmost reaches of the biosphere, as well as the alpine zone, which exists above the tree line and has a variety of flowering plant and shrub species.
In just 20 liters of water, scientists discovered species from 187 taxonomic orders, or 16.3%, or one sixth of all known orders in the tree of life, the family tree of biodiversity on Earth.
eDNA searches for trace amounts of genetic material left behind by organisms and wildlife and offers a more accessible, rapid, and comprehensive approach to increasing survey capacity for assessing biodiversity in aquatic environments. Samples are collected using a sealed cartridge containing a filter that captures genetic material that is later analyzed at a lab using DNA metabarcoding and other sequencing methodologies. WCS has been using eDNA for the detection of rare and threatened species from humpback whales to Swinhoe’s softshell turtle, one of the rarest species on the planet.
Although the 