CRISPeD

Current biodiversity monitoring methods, e.g., to detect endangered and elusive species, are costly and labor-intensive. This applies in particular to regions which are of special concern for global biodiversity such as tropical rainforests. Thus, new tools are needed which allow biodiversity monitoring at low-cost and which are easy applicable in the field, facilitating extensive biodiversity monitoring across different landscapes and continents.

Molecular methods are a recent yet increasingly popular tool to monitor biodiversity. Sampling environmental DNA (eDNA) is non-invasive and cheaper than other methods, i.e., surveys conducted by experts. However, the often used eDNA metabarcoding is still relatively expensive and the analysis slow (2-3 months) which limits its application for large scale monitoring. Decision makers and practitioners quickly need to know the status of a certain area or about the presence of e.g., an invasive or pest species. Coupling species-specific Crispr-Cas assays with eDNA samples would allow for cheaper and much faster biodiversity monitoring. In the CRISPeD project, we aim to develop such species-specific assays using Crispr-Cas to detect species and species groups in eDNA samples for a nearly real-time species monitoring at low costs.

The CRISPeD project consists of four parts: First, we aim to develop Crispr-Cas assays specific to selected species and species groups. Second, we rank the ecosystem state of several sites based on the CRISPeD assay using samples from rivers and soils. Third, we test if we can detect rare species in different landscapes in eDNA samples with the assay. Fourth, we will test if the assay signal strength is correlated with the relative abundance of the species within the catchment. Taken together, the different parts of the project should promote large scale biodiversity monitoring across landscapes and thereby inform about ecosystem functioning and the effectiveness of conservation measures.