Predicting provenance of forensic soil samples: Linking soil to ecological habitats by metabarcoding and supervised classification.

ABSTRACT: Environmental DNA (eDNA) is increasingly applied in ecological studies, including studies with the primary purpose of criminal investigation, in which eDNA from soil can be used to pair samples or reveal sample provenance. We collected soil eDNA samples as part of a large national biodiversity research project across 130 sites in Denmark. We investigated the potential for soil eDNA metabarcoding in predicting provenance in terms of environmental conditions, habitat type and geographic regions. We used linear regression for predicting environmental gradients of light, soil moisture, pH and nutrient status (represented by Ellenberg Indicator Values, EIVs) and Quadratic Discriminant Analysis (QDA) to predict habitat type and geographic region. eDNA data performed relatively well as a predicto

SUBMITTER: Flojgaard C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6613677 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature