Evaluating Genetic Analysis of Scat as a Technique for Monitoring Species Richness in National Parks - Final Report

Dee, Anthony

Finding efficient means of measuring and monitoring biological diversity are essential in conservation biology and natural resource management in national parks and other natural areas. Many techniques, each with advantages and disadvantages, are available for identifying individual species and estimating species richness. Analysis of DNA extracted from mammal scat has potential use in monitoring because it allows for the specific identification of the origin of the scat and may also be used to identify prey species. In this study we compared the effectiveness of using DNA analysis of scat for estimating species richness with a more commonly used technique, infrared triggered photography. We extracted DNA from scat and from prey bones within scat collected at Saguaro National Park, Arizona. We used a single set of primers to amplify a 240bp segment of mitochondrial DNA, which was matched to a database we developed with reference sequences for identification of species known to occur at the park. Infrared triggered cameras accounted for 17 (63%) mammal species over a 24 week sampling period. Genetic analyses detected nine mammal species in total. Twenty-five positive samples were extracted from 103 scat samples (24.3%), identifying nine species. Twenty-three positive samples were extracted from 38 bone samples (60.5%), identifying five species. Predator scats, and the bone samples taken from them (116 samples), produced 43 positive species identifications (37.1%) and accounted for nine new species. This study is the first known use of mitochrondrial DNA in monitoring mammal diversity, and our results suggest that this method may be an effective and economically efficient approach.