Abstract
Jaguar (Panthera onca) are of conservation concern and occur at very low densities in the northern portion of their range in northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. Environmental DNA sampling to detect genetic material from drinking water may be an effective approach for jaguar detection in these arid landscapes. Here we develop a qPCR assay for the detection of jaguar mitochondrial DNA, show that large quantities of DNA (mean 66,820 copies/L) can be found in the drinking water of captive animals, and observe detectable levels of DNA (80 copies/L) in a wild habitat with known jaguar populations. We suggest that environmental DNA sampling may represent a useful, complementary sampling tool for detection of rare jaguars, although effective application would require careful consideration of DNA persistence time in the environment.
Highlights
Jaguar (Panthera onca) are of conservation concern, in the northern portion of their range in northern Mexico and the southwestern United States (Brown and González, 2000)
Current jaguar monitoring in the United States primarily uses camera traps and genetic testing of scat samples which may be located with the use of detection dogs (Culver, 2016)
Recent studies suggest that under the right circumstances, Environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling of water may be an effective approach for the detection of terrestrial species (e.g., Williams et al, 2018; Franklin et al, 2019)
Summary
Jaguar (Panthera onca) are of conservation concern, in the northern portion of their range in northern Mexico and the southwestern United States (Brown and González, 2000). Current jaguar monitoring in the United States primarily uses camera traps and genetic testing of scat samples which may be located with the use of detection dogs (Culver, 2016). These approaches can be labor intensive, involving hundreds of cameras and tens of thousands of images (Culver, 2016). Additional sampling tools could help build a better understanding of jaguar distributions at the northern margin of their range and enable more effective protection of rare individuals and management of their habitat. We describe a hydrolysis assay developed for detection of jaguar mitochondrial DNA in environmental samples, demonstrate this tool on water samples taken from known and suspected jaguar drinking water sources
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