A biodiversity survey using SPYGEN’s eDNA protocols was conducted in around 14 natural ponds and artificial pools within a 4,000-hectare Natura 2000 site in the Belgian Ardennes. Habitats ranged from open bogs to forest-edge and closed-forest ponds. The area has undergone ecological restoration for over 20 years, including the reintroduction of several species.
Using a vertebrate primer, we detected more than 70 taxa, including the invasive raccoon (Procyon lotor), the black stork (Ciconia nigra), whose natural recolonization has been facilitated by habitat restoration, and the yellow-bellied toad (Bombina variegata), a species reintroduced through a captive-breeding and release programme.
Why this matters?
In only about 10 hours of fieldwork, a single broad-spectrum vertebrate primer detected more than 70 vertebrate taxa across a 4,000-ha Natura 2000 site.
This demonstrates that SPYGEN’s eDNA metabarcoding can provide a rapid, cost-effective overview of biodiversity while simultaneously detecting rare conservation-priority species and invasive species. Such an approach can greatly improve regulatory pre-screening, restoration monitoring and early-warning surveillance.
Furthermore, an amphibian-specific primer allowed to complete the amphibians species lists, highlighting the added value of a multi-primer strategy.
Explore example results below.
Location: Belgian Ardennes.
Ecosystem: Open (peatland), semi-open (clearings) and closed (forest) terrestrial ecosystems in a Natura 2000 area.
Depth: Surface Sampling.
Sampling method: At each of the 14 ponds (water bodies smaller than 1 ha) distributed across a 4,000 ha area, 2 liters of water were filtered using a multi-point sampling strategy designed to capture the diversity of habitats within each pond. The 2 liters sample was obtained by collecting twenty 100 ml subsamples distributed around the pond perimeter and pooling them prior to filtration. Sampling was conducted on foot using a Ladle Kit and a 0.45 µm filtration capsule.
Taxonomic group: Vertebrates, analyzed via SPYGEN’s V05 primer.
eDNA Results – Belgian Ardennes (Example Results)
Vertebrate eDNA metabarcoding · 14 sampling sites · Sequence read counts per taxon
| Class | Order | Family | Scientific name | Pond/Étang 1 | Pond/Étang 2 | Pond/Étang 3 | Pond/Étang 4 | Pond/Étang 5 | Pond/Étang 6 | Pond/Étang 7 | Pond/Étang 8 | Pond/Étang 9 | Pond/Étang 10 | Pond/Étang 11 | Pond/Étang 12 | Pond/Étang 13 | Pond/Étang 14 |
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