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1,076 results for “Metabarcoding”
A novel metabarcoding strategy for studying nematode communities
<p>Nematodes are most abundant soil metazoa. How, the ecology of this group of organism remains poorly elucidated, partly due to the lack of reliable and validated sequencing strategies. In this study, we tested four primer sets for amplicon sequencing: JB3/JB5, SSU_04F/SSU_22R, Nemf/18Sr2b from earlier studies; and MMSF/MMSR, a newly developed primer set from this study. In order to test these primer sets, we used 22 samples of individual nematode species, 20 mock communities, 20 soil samples, 20 mock communities in soil, and 4 root/rhizosphere soil samples. We successfully amplified the target regions (COI gene; V1-V2, V4-V8 region of 18S rRNA gene) from these 86 DNA samples and sequenced the amplicons on an Illumina MiSeq sequencing platform. We found that the MMSF/MMSR and Nemf/18Sr2b were very efficient in detecting soil nematode compared to JB and SSU primer sets based on annotation of sequence reads at genus and in some cases at species level. Therefore, these primer sets could be used to study nematode communities in agricultural environments.</p>
Reconstructing marine plankton food web interactions using DNA metabarcoding - Supplementary Dataset
<p>### This repository contains two separate datasets:</p> <p>1. *16S rRNA* gene dataset and<br> 2. *18S rRNA* gene dataset.</p> <p> </p> <p><br> ### The data is stored as ASV-file</p> <p>(Amplicon sequence variants) including:</p> <p>1. Exact sequence of ASV<br> 2. Taxonomic afiliation<br> 3. Read count matrix per sample sequencing library.</p> <p> </p> <p><br> ### Each dataset comes with a metadata-file.</p> <p>The metadata files contains the following variables:</p> <p>- **NGI.-Sample_ID** The Unique Sequenceing Library ID.<br> - **SAMPLE_ID** Identification of environmental *In_Situ* sample event.<br> - **SAMPLE_date** Date of sampling (YYY-MM-DD).<br> - **SAMPLE_type** Type of sample (Water or Zooplankton).<br> - **SAMPLE_method** Device used for sampling *In-Situ*.<br> - **SAMPLE_depth** Depth of sampling.<br> - **GENE** Marker gene.<br> - **INNER_primer** Primer pair ID used for PCR.<br> - **INNER_blocking** Weather blocking PNA has been used for PCR or not.</p> <p>For Zooplankton saples:<br> <br> - **SORTED_type** Taxonomic affiliation of Zooplankton (Blank for water samples).<br> - **SORTED_genus** Genus of sorted Zooplankton species (Blank for water samples).<br> - **SORTED_number** Number of individuals sorted in the sample.<br> <br> For Water samples:<br> <br> - **FILTER_poresize** Size in micrometer.<br> - **FILTER_material**<br> - **FILTER_volume** Volume of water filtered (L).</p>
Consensus calling of MinION amplicon reads improves metabarcoding results
<p><strong>Background</strong>: Metabarcoding environmental DNA with high-throughput sequencing is a state-of-the-art method to assess biodiversity and to uncover dark taxa. MinION is the first handheld sequencer that can be taken into the field for on-site metabarcoding. This research aims to answer if bioinformatics can solve the issues that arise because of the higher error rate of MinION data.</p> <p><strong>Results</strong>: Biodiverse samples with a presumed large portion of dark taxa were selected from the Dutch Caribbean. The cytochrome oxidase 1 gene (CO1) is used as a barcode for identification at the species level or higher levels. Generating a consensus sequence from closely related sequences resulted in minimized random errors and increased species identification of 175% compared to unclustered MinION data. Additional to the formulation of the workflow, an ecological analysis was conducted that revealed co-occurrence of species in similar habitats, and that the proportion of dark taxa in the sampled region is 81.87%.</p> <p><strong>Conclusion</strong>: Although the workflow did not attain the results that the existing Illumina workflows do, the potential is evident. The high proportion of dark taxa in the sampled region of Statia and the Saba Bank indicates the need for continued barcoding of species in the Dutch Caribbean to resolve database limitations.</p>
Effects of sampling seasons and locations on fish environmental DNA metabarcoding in dam reservoirs
<p>Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis has seen rapid development in the last decade, as a novel biodiversity monitoring method. Previous studies have evaluated optimal strategies, at several experimental steps of eDNA metabarcoding, for the simultaneous detection of fish species. However, optimal sampling strategies, especially the season and the location of water sampling, have not been evaluated thoroughly. To identify optimal sampling seasons and locations, we performed sampling monthly or at two-monthly intervals throughout the year in three dam reservoirs. Water samples were collected from 15 and 9 locations in the Miharu and Okawa dam reservoirs in Fukushima Prefecture, respectively, and 5 locations in the Sugo dam reservoir in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. One liter of water was filtered with glass-fiber filters and eDNA was extracted. By performing MiFish metabarcoding, we successfully detected a total of 21, 24, and 22 fish species in Miharu, Okawa, and Sugo reservoirs, respectively. From these results, the eDNA metabarcoding method had a similar level of performance compared to conventional long-term data. Furthermore, it was found to be effective in evaluating entire fish communities. The number of species detected by eDNA survey peaked in May in Miharu and Okawa reservoirs, and in March and June in Sugo reservoir, which corresponds with the breeding seasons of many of fish species inhabiting the reservoirs. In addition, the number of detected species was significantly higher in shore, compared to offshore samples in the Miharu reservoir, and a similar tendency was found in the other two reservoirs. Based on these results, we can conclude that the efficiency of species detection by eDNA metabarcoding could be maximized by collecting water from shore locations during the breeding seasons of the inhabiting fish. These results will contribute in the determination of sampling seasons and locations for fish fauna survey via eDNA metabarcoding, in the future.</p>
Data from: Using full-length metabarcoding and DNA barcoding to infer community assembly for speciose taxonomic groups: a case study
<p>How insect communities are assembled in nature remains largely unknown. In particular, whether habitat filtering or competition serves as the main mechanism in forming insect communities is rarely subject to an in-depth investigation. One bottleneck lies in the difficulty of species identification when dealing with a large number of diverse insects. However, High-Throughput Sequencing (HTS) technology coupled with classic DNA barcoding offers a great opportunity to infer community assembly for this speciose group. In this study, using 13,909 full-length barcodes obtained by Sanger sequencing or the SOAPBarcode metabarcoding method, we showed that competition was the main assembly mechanism for the moth communities studied in temperate forests of China. The two sequencing methods showed highly consistent results with regards to both diversity composition and community assembly mechanism. Significant phylogenetic signals and structure suggested that the focal moth communities were the result of the non-neutral assembly process, which was further confirmed by results of neutral assembly test that accounted for immigration and speciation rates. In conclusion, HTS coupled with a well-curated DNA barcode library can facilitate community assembly inferences, especially for speciose taxonomic groups.</p>
Data from: Biodiversity assessment of tropical shelf eukaryotic communities via pelagic eDNA metabarcoding
<p>Our understanding of marine communities and their functions in an ecosystem relies on the ability to detect and monitor species distributions and abundances. Currently, the use of environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding is increasingly being applied for the rapid assessment and monitoring of aquatic species. Most eDNA metabarcoding studies have either focused on the simultaneous identification of a few specific taxa/groups or have been limited in geographical scope. Here we employed eDNA metabarcoding to compare beta diversity patterns of complex pelagic marine communities in tropical coastal shelf habitats spanning the whole Caribbean Sea. We screened 68 water samples using a universal eukaryotic COI barcode region and detected highly diverse communities, which varied significantly among locations, and proved good descriptors of habitat type and environmental conditions. Less than 15% of eukaryotic taxa were assigned to metazoans, most DNA sequences belonged to a variety of planktonic 'protists', with over 50% of taxa unassigned at the phylum level, suggesting that the sampled communities host an astonishing amount of micro-eukaryotic diversity yet undescribed or absent from COI reference databases. Although such a predominance of micro-eukaryotes severely reduces the efficiency of universal COI markers to investigate vertebrate and other metazoans from aqueous eDNA, the study contributes to the advancement of rapid biomonitoring methods, and brings us closer to a full inventory of extant marine biodiversity.</p>
DNA metabarcoding quantifies the relative biomass of arthropod taxa in songbird diets: Validation with camera‐recorded diets
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Ecological research is often hampered by the inability to quantify animal diets. Diet composition can be tracked through DNA metabarcoding of faecal samples, but whether (complex) diets can be quantitatively determined with metabarcoding is still debated and needs validation using free-living animals. This study validates that DNA metabarcoding of faeces can retrieve actual ingested taxa, and most importantly, that read numbers retrieved from sequencing can also be used to quantify the relative biomass of dietary taxa. Validation was done with the hole-nesting insectivorous Pied Flycatcher whose diet was quantified using camera footage. Size-adjusted counts of food items delivered to nestlings were used as a proxy for provided biomass of prey orders and families and subsequently nestling faeces were assessed through DNA metabarcoding. To explore potential effects of digestion, gizzard and lower intestine samples of freshly collected birds were subjected to DNA metabarcoding. For metabarcoding with Cytochrome Oxidase subunit I (COI), we modified published invertebrate COI primers LCO1490 and HCO1777, which reduced host reads to 0.03%, and amplified Arachnida DNA without significant changing the recovery of other arthropod taxa. DNA metabarcoding retrieved all commonly camera-recorded taxa. Overall, and in each replicate year (N = 3), the relative scaled biomass of prey taxa and COI read numbers correlated at R = 0 .85 (95CI:0.68–0.94) at order level and at R = 0.75 (CI:0.67</span><span>–</span><span>0.82) at family level. Similarity in arthropod community composition between gizzard and intestines suggested limited digestive bias. This DNA metabarcoding validation demonstrates that quantitative analyses of arthropod diet is possible. We discuss the ecological applications for insectivorous birds.</span></p>
Bioinformatic pipeline from: Increasing confidence for discerning species and population compositions from metabarcoding assays of environmental samples: case studies of fishes in the Laurentian Great Lakes and Wabash River
<p>Community composition data are essential for conservation management, facilitating identification of rare native and invasive species, along with abundant ones. However, traditional capture-based morphological surveys require considerable taxonomic expertise, are time consuming and expensive, can kill rare taxa and damage habitats, and often are prone to false negatives. Alternatively, metabarcode assays can be used to assess the genetic identity and compositions of entire communities from environmental samples, comprising a more sensitive, less damaging, and relatively time- and cost-efficient approach. However, there is a trade-off between the stringency of bioinformatic filtering needed to remove false positives and the potential for false negatives. The present investigation thus evaluated use of four mitochondrial (mt) DNA metabarcode assays and a customized bioinformatic pipeline to increase confidence in species identifications by removing false positives, while achieving high detection probability. Positive controls were used to calculate sequencing error, and results that fell below those cutoff values were removed, unless found with multiple assays. The performance of this approach was tested to discern and identify North American freshwater fishes using lab experiments (mock communities and aquarium experiments) and processing of a bulk ichthyoplankton sample. The method then was applied to field environmental (e)DNA water samples taken concomitant with electrofishing surveys and morphological identifications. This protocol detected 100% of species present in concomitant electrofishing surveys in the Wabash River and an additional 21 that were absent from traditional sampling. Using single 1 L water samples collected from just four locations, the metabarcoding assays discerned 73% of the total fish species that were discerned in comparison to four months of an extensive electrofishing river survey in the Maumee River, along with an additional nine species. In both rivers, total fish species diversity was best resolved when all four metabarcode assays were used together, which identified 35 additional species missed by electrofishing. Ecological distinction and diversity levels among the fish communities also were better resolved with the metabarcode assays than with morphological sampling and identifications, especially with the combined assays. At the population-level, metabarcode analyses targeting the invasive round goby <i>Neogobius melanostomus</i> and the silver carp <i>Hypophthalmichthys molitrix</i> identified all population haplotype variants found using Sanger sequencing of morphologically sampled fish, along with additional intra-specific diversity, meriting further investigation. Overall findings demonstrated that the use of multiple metabarcode assays and custom bioinformatics that filter potential error from true positive detections improves confidence in evaluating biodiversity.</p>
Data from: Comparison of rapid biodiversity assessment of meiobenthos using MALDI-TOF MS and metabarcoding
<p>Nowadays, most biodiversity assessments involving meiofauna are mainly carried out using very time-consuming, specimen-wise morphological identifications, which demands comprehensive taxonomic knowledge. Animals have to be examined for minor differences of setae compositions, mouthpart morphology or number of segments for various extremities. DNA-based methods such as metabarcoding as well as recently emerged rapid analyses using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry to identify specimens based on a proteome fingerprint could vastly accelerate the process of specimen identification in biodiversity assessments. However, these techniques depend on reference libraries to connect collected data to morphologically described species. In this study the success rate of both approaches have been tested based on reference libraries constructed using part of the samples from a new study area to identify unknown samples. Using MALDI-TOF MS we found, that species which do not exist in an incomplete mass spectra reference library only have minor impact on the results, when employing a post hoc test for Random Forest classifications. This test reveals specimens that demand morphological re-examination for the final species assignment. Metabarcoding however strongly demands a rich reference library to provide correct MOTU assessments in congruence with morphological determination. Nevertheless, with a complete library and a suitable data transformation [herein log(x + 1)], the number of reads per MOTU reflects relative species abundances in metabarcoding inference. The results of this study facilitate specimen identification by using MALDI-TOF MS, which is incomparably cheap for specimen-by specimen identification, but when it comes to sample-wise analyses, metabarcoding outperforms other techniques by far.</p>
Application of high-throughput sequencing (HTS) metabarcoding to diatom biomonitoring: Do DNA extraction methods matter?
<p>The 8 benthic samples from Mainland France (stream Edian, stream Aire, lake Geneva), Sweden (stream Dåmman, Agricultural stream, lake Båtkåjaure) and Mayotte (stream Dapani, stream Majimbini) were collected by scraping material from the surface of stones, following the French standard (AFNOR 2007) used in routine biomonitoring programs.DNA was extracted from each sample (2 replicates) using five DNA extraction methods, followed by the amplification of a short rbcL DNA barcode (312bp) specific to diatoms. PCR products were then sequenced in one random direction using the Ion Torrent™ Personal Genome Machine® (PGM) System according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The data file contains one fastq file per library sequenced with the raw DNA reads, as provided by the sequencing platform (demultiplexing performed by the sequencing platform). An excel file is also provided to make the link between the fastq file number and the sample information (sample origin, DNA extraction method used, number of raw reads).</p>
Data supplementing the article "Assessing ecological status with diatoms DNA metabarcoding : scaling-up on a WFD monitoring network (Mayotte island, France)" V. Vasselon, F. Rimet, K. Tapolczai, A. Bouchez submitted to Ecological Indicators journal
<p>These data supplement the article"Assessing ecological status with DNA metabarcoding or microscopy? Comparison using benthic diatoms in tropical rivers" V. Vasselon, F. Rimet, K. Tapolczai, A. Bouchez submitted to Ecological Indicators journal.</p> <p>The directory contains the following files:</p> <p><strong>80 PGM sequencing libraries (raw data, fastq files).rar </strong>- contains the 80 fastq files provided by the sequencing platform with demultiplexed DNA reads (raw data prior any bioinformatics treatments).</p> <p><strong>80 fastq files information.xlsx</strong> - contains the information relative to the 80 samples including: the ID used in Mothur analyses (corresponding to the name of the fastq files), the sample name, the sampling site code, the name of the river, the monitoring network to which rivers belong, the year of sampling and the GPS coordinates of sampling sites.</p> <p><strong>OTU (95 percent of similarity) list of 80 Mayotte samples.xlsx</strong> - contains the final OTU list obtained after applying all the bioinformatics treatments (trimming, clustering,...): OTUs created at 95% of similarity, the number of DNA reads per sample was normalized at 5710 reads (the smallest values obtained in one sample). A DNA representative sequence and the taxonomic assignment determined using Mothur (using classify.otu command) are also provided for each OTU.</p>
Metabarcoding dataset of surface microbial eukaryotes in the Western Arctic Ocean (Canada Basin/Beaufort Sea)
<p>Fasta file of amplicon sequence variant (ASV) sequences, ASV phylogeny in Newick format, ASV table of relative abundance in samples and table of taxonomic information associated with each ASV. Raw sequence data were processed using DADA2 v1.14 and taxonomic assignment of ASV sequences was done using the PR2 database v4.12.0. The table of standardised environmental metadata (z-scores) is also provided.</p><p>Additionally, the OTU (98%) table of relative abundances in samples and phylogeny in Newick format is available.</p>
Data for: DNA metabarcoding uncovers dispersal-constrained arthropods in a highly fragmented restoration setting
<p>Degraded areas are often restored through active revegetation, however recolonisation by animals is rarely engineered. Recolonisation may be rapid for species with strong dispersal abilities. However, poor dispersers, such as many flightless arthropods, may struggle to recolonise newly restored sites. Actively reintroducing or 'rewilding' arthropods may therefore be necessary to facilitate recolonisation and restoration of arthropod communities and the ecological functions they perform. However, active interventions are rare. The purpose of this study was twofold. First, we asked whether potential source remnant arthropod communities were dispersal-constrained and struggling to recolonise restoration sites. Second, we tested whether reintroducing entire arthropod communities from remnant populations would help dispersal-constrained species establish during farmland ecological restoration in southern Australia. Rewilding was conducted in summer 2018 by transplanting leaf litter, soil, and entire communities contained within it from remnant source populations into geographically isolated restoration sites, which were paired with untreated controls (n = 6 remnant, rewilding transplant, and control sites). We collected leaf litter and extracted arthropod communities 19 months after the initial rewilding event, then sequenced mite, springtail, and insect communities using a metabarcoding approach. Within all groups, community similarity decreased with spatial distance between sites, suggesting significant dispersal barriers. However, only mite communities showed a strong response to rewilding, which was expressed as increased compositional similarity towards remnant sites and greater species richness relative to controls. Our results demonstrate that many arthropod species may struggle to recolonise geographically isolated restoration sites and that full community restoration requires active interventions via rewilding.</p>
Supplementary data for: simultaneous species detection and discovery with environmental DNA metabarcoding: a freshwater mollusk case study
<p>Environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling is a powerful tool for rapidly characterizing biodiversity patterns for specious, cryptic taxa with incomplete taxonomies. One such group that are also of high conservation concern are North American freshwater gastropods. In particular, springsnails of the genus <em>Pyrgulopsis</em> (Family: Hydrobiidae) are prevalent throughout the western United States where >140 species have been described. Many of the described species are narrow endemics known from a single spring or locality and it is believed that there are likely many additional species which have yet to be described. The distribution of these species across the landscape is of interest because habitat loss and degradation, climate change, groundwater mining, and pollution have resulted in springsnail imperilment rates as high as 92%. Determining distributions with conventional sampling methods is limited by the fact that these snails are often <5 mm in length with few distinguishing morphological characters, making them both difficult to detect and to identify. In order to facilitate detection of <em>Pyrgulopsis</em> we developed an eDNA metabarcoding protocol that is both inexpensive and capable of rapid, accurate detection of all known <em>Pyrgulopsis</em> species. When compared with conventional collection techniques, our pipeline consistently resulted in detection at sites previously known to contain <em>Pyrgulopsis </em>springsnails and at a cost per site that is likely to be substantially less than the conventional sampling and individual barcoding that has been done historically. Additionally, because our method uses eDNA extracted from filtered water it is non-destructive and suitable for the detection of endangered species where "no take" restrictions may be in effect. This effort represents both a tool which is immediately applicable to a group of high conservation concern across western North America and a case study in the broader application of eDNA sampling for landscape assessments of cryptic taxa of conservation concern.</p>
DNA metabarcoding of corvid faecal samples
<p><span>Establishing methods that allow for more focused management of wildlife under predator pressure may increase the efficiency of managing problematic predators. Non-invasive dietary analysis and identification of conservation-sensitive prey in the diet of 'culprit' predator individuals could help to facilitate this and is worthy of exploration. Recently on Phillip Island, Australia, Little Ravens <em>Corvus mellori</em> have emerged as a prominent predator on the clutches of burrow-nesting Little Penguins <em>Eudyptula minor</em>. We tested the feasibility of using non-invasive PCR approaches targeting the penguin mitochondrial 16S rRNA marker gene to establish whether penguin DNA could be detected in raven faecal samples, potentially enabling the identification of culprit ravens missed by extensive field observation. Using a metabarcoding approach, we examined the feasibility of non-invasively establishing other dietary items via high throughput amplicon sequencing. We documented components of raven diet using the universal mitochondrial 16S rRNA, insect-specific 'Chiar' 16S rRNA, and plant ITS2. The assemblage of dietary items did not differ with raven culprit status (i.e. a raven previously observed preying upon penguin), sex, or date. Penguin was detected in the diet of some individuals classified observationally as non-culprits. While some cases may conceivably have been false detections, other explanations include missed depredation events, consumption via scavenging, or consumption through secondary consumption (e.g. eating invertebrates that have consumed penguin). While this study found metabarcoding unreliable for unambiguous assigning of raven culprit status, at least as we implemented it, it may hold promise complementing observations if consumption via scavenging can be distinguished from direct depredation.</span></p>
eDNA metabarcoding of avocado flowers: 'Hass' it got potential to survey arthropods in food production systems?
<p>In the face of global biodiversity declines, surveys of beneficial and antagonistic arthropod diversity as well as the ecological services that they provide are increasingly important in both natural and agro-ecosystems. Conventional survey methods used to monitor these communities often require extensive taxonomic expertise and are time-intensive, potentially limiting their application in industries such as agriculture, where arthropods often play a critical role in productivity (e.g. pollinators, pests and predators). Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding of a novel substrate, crop flowers, may offer an accurate and high throughput alternative to aid in the detection managed and unmanaged arthropod taxa (e.g. flower-visiting insects and potential pollinators). Here, we compared the arthropod communities detected with eDNA metabarcoding of flowers, from an agricultural species (<em>Persea americana </em>- 'Hass' avocado), with two conventional survey techniques; Digital Video Recording (DVR) devices and pan traps. In total, 80 eDNA flower samples, 96 hours of DVRs and 48 pan trap samples were collected. Across the three methods, 49 arthropod families were identified, of which 12 were unique to the eDNA dataset. Alpha diversity levels did not differ across the three survey methods although taxonomic composition varied significantly, with only 12% of arthropod families found to be common across all three methods. This study demonstrates that eDNA metabarcoding of flowers to detect visiting arthropods, although in a developmental stage, can complement traditional survey methods and increase the diversity of taxa detected with implications for both natural and agro-ecosystems.</p>
Data from: Metabarcoding of fecal pellets in wild muskox populations reveals negative relationships between microbiome and diet alpha diversity
<p>Microbiome diversity and diet composition concomitantly influence species health, fitness, immunity, and digestion. In environments where diet varies spatially and temporally, microbiome plasticity may promote rapid host adaptation to available resources. For northern ungulates in particular, metabarcoding of noninvasively collected fecal pellets presents unprecedented insights into their diverse ecological requirements and niches by clarifying the interrelationships of microbiomes, key to deriving nutrients, in context of altered forage availability in changing climates. Muskoxen (<em>Ovibos moschatus</em>) are Arctic-adapted species that experience fluctuating qualities and quantities of vegetation. Geography and seasonality have been noted to influence microbiome composition and diversity in muskoxen, yet it is unclear how their microbiomes intersect with diet. Following observations from other species, we hypothesized increasing diet diversity would result in higher microbiome diversity in muskoxen. We assessed diet composition in muskoxen using three common plant metabarcoding markers and explored correlations with microbiome data. Patterns of dietary diversity and composition were not fully concordant among the markers used, yet all reflected the primary consumption of willows and sedges. Individuals with similar diets had more similar microbiomes, yet in contrast to most literature, yielded negative relationships between microbiome and diet alpha diversity. This negative correlation may reflect the unique capacities of muskoxen to survive solely on high-fiber Arctic forage and provide insight into their resiliency to exploit changing dietary resources in a rapidly warming Arctic altering vegetation diversity.</p>
DNA metabarcoding reveals a broad dietary range for Tasmanian devils introduced to a naïve ecosystem
<p>Top carnivores are essential for maintaining ecosystem stability and biodiversity. Yet, carnivores are declining globally and current <em>in situ</em> threat mitigations cannot halt population declines. As such, translocations of carnivores to historic sites or those outside the species' native range are becoming increasingly common. As carnivores are likely to impact herbivore and small predator populations, understanding how carnivores interact within an ecosystem following translocation is necessary to inform potential remedial management and future translocations. Dietary analyses provide a preliminary assessment of the direct influence of translocated carnivores on a recipient ecosystem. We used a metabarcoding approach to quantify the diet of Tasmanian devils introduced to Maria Island, Tasmania, a site outside the species' native range. We extracted DNA from 96 scats and used a universal primer set targeting the vertebrate 12S rRNA gene to identify diet items. Tasmanian devils on Maria Island had an eclectic diet, with 63 consumed taxa identified. Cat DNA was detected in 14% of scats, providing the first instance of cats appearing as part of Tasmanian devil diets either via predation or scavenging. Short-tail shearwaters and little penguins were commonly consumed, corresponding with previous surveys showing sharp population declines in these species since the introduction of Tasmanian devils. Our results indicate that the introduction of carnivores to novel ecosystems can be very successful for the focal species, but that commonly consumed species should be closely monitored to identify any vulnerable species in need of remedial management.</p>
Data from: Assessing springtime vertebrate prey of sympatric mesopredators in the southeastern United States using metabarcoding analysis
<p>Coyotes (<em>Canis latrans</em>) colonized the eastern United States over the last century and formed a 3-species predator guild with bobcats (<em>Lynx rufus</em>) and gray foxes (<em>Urocyon cinereoargenteus</em>) across much of the southeastern United States. Diets among the three species vary along with respective impacts on game species such as white-tailed deer (<em>Odocoileus virginianus</em>) and wild turkeys (<em>Meleagris gallopavo</em>). To determine predation impacts on vertebrate prey and dietary overlap in consumption of prey items, we assessed diets of coyote, bobcat, and gray fox during spring, coinciding with white-tailed deer fawning and wild turkey nesting and brood rearing. We sampled across three sites along the Savannah River in South Carolina from mid-May through mid-June of 2020-2021. We collected 180 scat samples along 295.9 kilometers (71.1 – 122.4 km/site) of unpaved secondary roads and used DNA metabarcoding to determine vertebrate diet items. We identified predator species of scat using DNA metabarcoding and species-specific mtDNA fragment analysis (153 were coyotes, 20 bobcats, and seven gray foxes). Overall, we found evidence that two species, coyote and bobcat, consumed deer while all three consumed turkeys. The frequency of deer in the diet varied across sites for coyotes from 62 – 86% and wild turkey was present with a frequency of occurrence of 9% for coyotes, 5% for bobcats, and 14% for gray fox. Vertebrate diet specialization was evident across predator species with a high frequency of deer in coyote diets, rabbits and small mammals in bobcat diets, and herpetofauna in gray fox diets. During deer fawning and wild turkey nesting and brood rearing, dietary overlap appears to be mediated by the disparate selection of prey items, which reduced competition among coyotes, bobcats, and gray foxes. The use of DNA metabarcoding may augment our understanding of dietary preferences within this predator guild by providing increased resolution of diet composition among important game species.</p>
Data from: Dietary partitioning among three cryptobentic reef fish mesopredators revealed by visual analysis, metabarcoding of gut content, and stable isotope analysis
<p>Understanding how mesopredators partition their diet and the identity of consumed prey can assist in understanding the ecological role predators and prey play in ecosystem trophodynamics. Here, we assessed the diet of three common coral reef mesopredators; <em>Pseudochromis flavivertex</em>, <em>Pseudochromis fridmani</em>, and <em>Pseudochromis olivaceus</em> from the family Pseudochromidae, commonly known as dottybacks, using a combination of i) visual stomach content analysis, ii) stomach content DNA metabarcoding (18S, COI), and iii) stable isotope analysis (δ<sup>15</sup>N, δ<sup>13</sup>C). In addition, <em>P. flavivertex</em> is found in two distinct color morphs in the Red Sea, providing an opportunity to analyze intra-morph differences. These techniques revealed partitioning in the dietary composition and resource use among species. Arthropods comprised the main dietary component of <em>P. flavivertex</em> (18S > 60%; COI > 10%), and <em>P. olivaceus</em> (18S = 57.2%) while <em>P. fridmani</em> ingested predominantly mollusks (18S = 51.3%, COI = 24.6%). Despite being small predators, microplastics were found in the gut content of some of these fishes. Stable isotope analysis showed differences in species' isotopic niche breadth and trophic position. <em>Pseudochromis olivaceus</em> presented the largest isotopic niche (SEA<sub>C</sub> = 1.61‰<sup>2</sup>), while <em>P. fridmani</em> showed the smallest isotopic niche (SEA<sub>C</sub> = 0.45‰<sup>2</sup>) among species. Although the two techniques used for stomach content analysis did not show differences in the diet within color morphs of <em>P. flavivertex</em>, they differed in the isotopic niche and resource use. Despite our limited sampling, our findings provide evidence of species-specific differences in the trophic ecology of dottybacks and demonstrate their important role as predators of cryptic invertebrates and small fishes. This study highlights the importance of combining several approaches (short-term: visual analysis and DNA metabarcoding; and long-term: isotope analysis) when assessing the feeding habits of coral reef fish, as they provide complementary information necessary to delimit their niches and understand the role that small mesopredators play in coral reef ecosystems.</p>
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Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
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The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
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