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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Nick CutlerORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Sedimentary ancient DNA in well-dated contexts (sedaDNA) has great potential as a palaeoecological proxy. A few studies have attempted palaeoecological reconstructions using sedaDNA from soil; these studies have been mainly restricted to cold and/or dry soils. The study of soils from wet, temperate locations has been limited due to uncertainties surrounding the longevity and mobility of DNA in these environments. We addressed this knowledge gap with a novel field experiment that (i) tracked the movement and longevity of ‘exotic’ DNA applied to a wet, temperate soil and (ii) compared extant plant community structure with recent (decades old) environmental DNA (eDNA) data extracted from shallow (<20 cm deep) soil samples. We used DNA metabarcoding to detect the exotic DNA and reconstruct plant communities from soil eDNA at different depths. Dating control provided by layers of volcanic ash indicated that our oldest soil samples were formed ~100 years ago. Our findings indicated low survivability and limited (centimetre-scale or less) mobility of applied DNA. The reconstructed plant communities closely resembled extant vegetation cover. We concluded that sedaDNA would be suitable as a palaeo-proxy for vegetation in similar settings, albeit restricted to the most abundant taxa. Further work in more taxonomically and structurally diverse settings, preferably with different soil types, would be required to establish the broader use of soil sedaDNA as a palaeoecological proxy in wet, temperate soils.
Author(s): Cutler NA, Huang DYT, Streeter RT, Dugmore AJ
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Journal of Quaternary Science
Year: 2026
Pages: Epub ahead of print
Online publication date: 03/08/2026
Acceptance date: 22/07/2026
Date deposited: 13/08/2026
ISSN (print): 0267-8179
ISSN (electronic): 1099-1417
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Ltd
URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.70100
DOI: 10.1002/jqs.70100
Data Access Statement: The molecular data that support the findings of this study are openly available in Zenodo at https://zenodo.org/records/15798409. Any other data are available from the corresponding author on request.
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