A global study, including Australia’s Southern Cross University, has found the key to mapping biodiversity has been staring us in the face the whole time: in the surrounding air. Led by Finland’s University of Jyväskylä, the team used DNA sequencing to identify fungi from air samples collected from 47 sites around the world. The research produced ground-breaking knowledge about the climatic and evolutionary factors influencing the occurrence and seasonal variation of both previously known and unknown fungi.
Journal/conference: Nature
Link to research (DOI): 10.1038/s41586-024-07658-9
Organisation/s: Southern Cross University, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Funder: This study was supported by funding from the Academy of Finland (grant nos. 336212, 345110, 322266, 335354 and 357475); the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 856506; ERC-synergy project LIFEPLAN); the EU Horizon 2020 project INTERACT under grant agreement nos. 730938 and 871120; the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation; the Research Council of Norway through its Centres of Excellence Funding Scheme (no. 223257); the Estonian Research Council (grant no. PRG1170); FORMAS (grant nos. 215-2011-498 and 226-2014-1109); the Canada Foundation for Innovation, Polar Knowledge Canada, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC Discover); Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) UK (grant nos. NE/N001710/1 and NE/N002431/1); BBSRC (grant no. BB/ L012286/1); the Austrian Ministry of Science (the ABOL-HRSM project); the municipality of Vienna (Division of Environmental Protection); Southern Scientific Centre RAS (project no. 122020100332-8); the Croatian Science Foundation under the project FunMed (grant no. HRZZ-IP-2022-10-5219); the National Research Council of Thailand (grant no. N42A650547); Dirigibile Italia Station, Institute of Polar Science (ISP) – National Research Council; the US National Science Foundation (nos. DEB-1655896, DEB-1655076 and DEB-1932467); the Pepper-Giberson Chair Fund; the National Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 41761144055 and 41771063); São Paulo Research Foundation (no. FAPESP 2016/25197-0) and Legado das Águas-Brazil; Hong Kong’s Research Grants Council (General Research Fund no. 17118317); the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research; Canada’s New Frontiers in Research Fund; Swedish Research Council support (grant no. 4.3-2021-00164) to SITES and Abisko Scientific Research Station; the Mushroom Research Foundation, Thailand; and the Italian National Biodiversity Future Center (MUR-PNRR, Mission 4.2. Investment 1.4, Project no. CN00000033).
Media release
From: Southern Cross University
From: University of Jyväskylä
A global study, including Australia’s Southern Cross University, has found the key to mapping biodiversity has been staring us in the face the whole time: in the surrounding air.Led by Finland’s University of Jyväskylä, the paper is published in the journal Nature.Only a fraction of nature’s diversity, or species richness, is still known, especially when it comes to insects and fungi, both of which have millions of species still unknown to science. At the same time, the loss of nature is progressing at an unprecedented rate, and researchers are racing against time to find out the unknown diversity while also coming up with ways to save it.Chair of Science and Entomologist at Southern Cross University, Professor Nigel Andrew, was part of the global study.“The air that surrounds us is full of the signatures of life,” said Professor Andrew.“DNA from all species living on land is floating around in the air. This DNA can be used to sample and assess the diversity and distribution of all species, and give us poorly known taxa – such as fungi.”The team used DNA sequencing to identify fungi from air samples collected from 47 sites around the world. The research produced ground-breaking knowledge about the climatic and evolutionary factors influencing the occurrence and seasonal variation of both previously known and unknown fungi.“This knowledge is essential not only to understand where and when different fungal species thrive, but also to predict their fate under the ongoing global change,” said study lead author Dr Nerea Abrego of the University of Jyväskylä.Otso Ovaskainen, an Academy Professor at the University of Jyväskylä involved in the research project, is convinced that such new biodiversity sampling techniques will revolutionise biomonitoring and biodiversity forecasts in the coming years.Using DNA as well as image and audio, Ovaskainen is leading a follow-up project in which fungi, insects, mammals, birds, bats, and frogs are studied at hundreds of locations around the world.“There are more than million insect species in the samples already collected, which is many more species than have been described by science so far,” says Ovaskainen.“The enormous size of the data set makes analysis challenging. We have more than a hundred years of sound, millions of camera trap images, and billions of DNA sequences.”Professor Andrew initiated the Australian node of this project and he and his team collected spore samples twice a week for 18 months in a Eucalypt forest reserve on the NSW New England Tablelands. The spore samples were sent to Finland for processing and analysis.“It is a great experience working in these large international teams. What seems like a simple process at one site, can be technically challenging to replicate and analyse globally,” said Professor Andrew.“I have been part of similar teams assessing caterpillar predation, dung beetle ecosystem services and plant herbivory globally. Collecting ecological data your local patch and relating to other sites globally is really exciting. It helps us better understand our environment when it is undergoing rapid climatic and land-use change”.Since almost all fungi are at least partially spread through the air, the study included not only boletes and russulas, but also, for example, lichens, bracket fungi, molds and yeasts.“One particularly interesting subject for further research is a more detailed review of the sequences for fungi that are important to humans,” said Dr Abrego.“These include fungal diseases of humans, crops and production animals, as well as fungi that indicate the progress of the loss of nature and the weakening of natural ecosystem processes.”