Pritam Banerjee1, 2, Kathryn A. Stewart3, Caterina M. Antognazza4, Ingrid V. Bunholi5, Kristy Deiner6, Matthew A. Barnes7, Santanu Saha8, Héloïse Verdier9, Hideyuki Doi10, Jyoti Prakash Maity2, Michael W.Y. Chan1, Chien Yen Chen2*
1Department of Biomedical Sciences, Graduate Institute of Molecular Biology, National Chung Cheng University, 168 University Road, Ming-Shung, Chiayi County 62102, Taiwan
2Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, National Chung Cheng University, 168 University Road, Ming-Shung, Chiayi County 62102, Taiwan.
3 Institute of Environmental Science, Leiden University, 2333 CC Leiden, The Netherlands
4 Department of Theoretical and Applied Science, University of Insubria, Via J.H. Dunant, 3, 21100, Varese, Italy
5 Department of Biology, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN 47809, USA
6 Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, Universitätstrasse 16, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland
7 Department of Natural Resources Management, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX USA
8Post Graduate Department of Botany, Bidhannagar College, Salt Lake City, Kolkata 700064, India
9Univ Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS, ENTPE, UMR 5023 LEHNA, Villeurbanne, France
10Graduate School of Information Science, University of Hyogo, 7-1-28 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe, 650-0047, Japan
Abstract
Plant-animal interactions (PAI) represent major channels of energy transfer through ecosystems, where both positive and antagonistic interactions simultaneously contribute to ecosystem functioning. Monitoring PAI therefore increases understanding of environmental health, integrity and functioning, and studying complex interactions through accurate, cost-effective sampling can aid in the management of detrimental anthropogenic impacts. Environmental DNA (eDNA)-based monitoring represents an increasingly common, non-destructive approach for biomonitoring, which could help to elucidate PAI. Here, we focused our foundation to discuss the potential of eDNA in studying PAI on the literature existing from 2009 to 2021 using a freely accessible web search tool. The search was conducted by using key words involving eDNA and PAI, including both species-specific and metabarcoding approaches, recovering 43 studies. We summarise advantages and current limitations of such approaches, and we offer research priorities that will potentially improve future eDNA-based methods for PAI analysis. Our review has demonstrated that numerous studies exist using eDNA to identify PAI (e.g., pollination, herbivory, mutualistic, parasitic relationships), and although eDNA-based PAI studies remain in their infancy, to date they have identified higher taxonomic diversity in several direct comparisons to DNA-based gut/bulk sampling and conventional survey methods. Research into the influencing factors of eDNA detection involved in PAI (e.g., origin and types, methodological standardization, database limitations, validation with conventional surveys, and existing ecological models) will benefit the growth of this application. Thus, implementation of eDNA methods to study PAI can particularly benefit environmental biomonitoring surveys that are imperative for biodiversity health assessments.