title: Surveying Europe's Only Cave-Dwelling Chordate Species (Proteus anguinus) Using Environmental DNA.
abstract: In surveillance of subterranean fauna, especially in the case of rare or elusive aquatic species, traditional techniques used for epigean species are often not feasible. We developed a non-invasive survey method based on environmental DNA (eDNA) to detect the presence of the red-listed cave-dwelling amphibian, Proteus anguinus, in the caves of the Dinaric Karst. We tested the method in fifteen caves in Croatia, from which the species was previously recorded or expected to occur. We successfully confirmed the presence of P. anguinus from ten caves and detected the species for the first time in five others. Using a hierarchical occupancy model we compared the availability and detection probability of eDNA of two water sampling methods, filtration and precipitation. The statistical analysis showed that both availability and detection probability depended on the method and estimates for both probabilities were higher using filter samples than for precipitation samples. Combining reliable field and laboratory methods with robust statistical modeling will give the best estimates of species occurrence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, Hungary.|Molecular Taxonomy Laboratory, Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Judit
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9707-1443
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vörös
authors.affiliation: Institute for Soil Sciences and Agricultural Chemistry, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Orsolya
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Márton
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environment Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.|Koordinationsstelle für Amphibien- und Reptilienschutz in der Schweiz, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Benedikt R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Júlia Tünde
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Gál
authors.affiliation: Croatian Institute for Biodiversity, Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Dušan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jelić
mesh_terms: D000663:Amphibians / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D059552:Caves; D017523:Croatia; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005060:Europe; D056186:Metagenomics; D011511:Proteus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D013045:Species Specificity; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D014867:Water; D004247:DNA