Become a citizen scientist and help preserve California's biodiversity
Would you like to become a volunteer citizen scientist helping to document and analyze California's rich biodiversity? If so, you can be among 1,000 volunteers who will collect 18,000 samples of soil and aquatic sediment from across the state through a new University of California program called CALeDNA that intends to revolutionize conservation in California by the end of this year.
Volunteers who sign up on the program's website will receive training, a sample collection kit and a phone app to guide them. The program's scientific team hopes about half of the participants will deploy the kits on hikes in any of the 39 UC natural reserves, and that the other half will sample broadly across California's stunning and fragile ecosystems. CALeDNA will hold several "BioBlitz" events; the first will be held on Feb. 8 at Northern California's Pillar Point near Half Moon Bay.
To figure out what lives in a place—for example, from an undeveloped lot in the desert, a grassland being considered for cattle range or a patch of coastal sage scrub experiencing drought —teams of life scientists have traditionally had to survey the area intensively for up to four years, but they still could not identify everything.
By using DNA-sequencing technology that traditionally has been used to inventory species in marine systems, CALeDNA scientists will be able to reconstruct an entire habitat from a vial of soil. The kit samples will be sent to a team of UCLA molecular biologists, who will extract DNA and prepare the sample for permanent archiving.
This technique captures fragments of DNA, called environmental DNA or eDNA, from cells shed by animals as they scamper by, from plants as fallen leaves compost, and from all the small critters, bacteria and fungi that live underground. High-tech DNA sequencers generate hundreds of thousands of DNA barcodes that scientists will compare to a global database of all barcodes of life. They can then extrapolate hundreds of species with even a trace amount of DNA in a gram of soil.
The CALeDNA program was created under the UC Conservation Genomics Consortium supported by UC President Janet Napolitano's catalyst grant program.
"With more extreme climate sweeping the state, and nearly 1,000 species on endangered or watch lists, California can't afford to wait to take action," said Robert Wayne, a UCLA professor of ecology and evolutionary biology who is leading the consortium.
Conservation International has named California as one of the world's biodiversity hotspots, with a large number of species whose existence is threatened by human activity. California's wildlife is particularly at risk because more than 70 percent of natural habitat has been lost due to development and land degradation, Wayne said.
One of the main challenges facing conservation biologists is effectively monitoring species distribution and establishing reliable baselines of a region's biodiversity—which is critical for early detection of species decline. CALeDNA aims to address these challenges by collecting and analyzing samples to establish a baseline of California's biodiversity.
"We will create an environmental DNA museum," Wayne said. CALeDNA will openly disseminate information about its progress with data collection and analysis to make biodiversity monitoring easier and more effective.
And you can be a part of this important biodiversity project.
Provided by University of California, Los Angeles
Kuwa mwanasayansi raia na kusaidia kuhifadhi California's biodiversity Ungependa kuwa mwanasayansi raia kujitolea kusaidia kumbukumbu na kuchambua California's bio-diversity tajiri? "Kama hivyo, unaweza kuwa miongoni mwa wajitoleaji 1,000 ambao watachukua sampuli 18,000 za udongo na maji kutoka kote jimbo kupitia mpango mpya wa Chuo Kikuu cha California unaoitwa ""CALEDNA"" ambao unakusudia kuleta mapinduzi katika uhifadhi wa mazingira huko California mwishoni mwa mwaka huu." Wajitoleaji ambao watajiandikisha kwenye tovuti ya programu hiyo watapokea mafunzo, kit cha kukusanya sampuli na programu ya simu ili kuwaongoza. Timu ya kisayansi ya programu hiyo inatarajia nusu ya washiriki watatumia vifaa hivyo katika matembezi katika hifadhi yoyote ya asili ya 39 ya UC, na nusu nyingine itatumia sampuli katika mazingira ya California yenye kuvutia na dhaifu. "Kama ilivyoelezwa hapo juu, ""BioBlitz"" itafanyika Februari 8 katika Pillar Point, California, karibu na Half Moon Bay." Ili kujua ni nini kinachokaa katika eneo fulani - kwa mfano, kutoka kwenye eneo lisilojengwa katika jangwa, nyasi inayotumiwa kwa ajili ya mifugo au eneo la mimea ya pwani inayokabili ukame - timu za wanasayansi wa maisha kwa kawaida zimelazimika kuchunguza eneo hilo kwa bidii kwa miaka minne, lakini bado hawawezi kutambua kila kitu. Kwa kutumia teknolojia ya DNA-kufuatilia ambayo kwa kawaida imekuwa ikitumika kuorodhesha spishi katika mifumo ya baharini, wanasayansi wa CALEDNA wataweza kujenga upya mazingira yote kutoka kwa vial ya udongo. Kwa mfano, sampuli za kit zitapelekwa kwa timu ya biolojia ya molekuli ya UCLA, ambao watatoa DNA na kuandaa sampuli kwa ajili ya kuhifadhiwa kwa kudumu. Mbinu hii inashikilia vipande vya DNA, vinavyoitwa DNA ya mazingira (EDNA), kutoka kwa seli zilizofutwa na wanyama wanapopiga mbio, kutoka kwa mimea kama mbolea ya majani yaliyopotea, na kutoka kwa viumbe vyote vidogo, bakteria na kuvu vinavyoishi chini ya ardhi. Vifaa vya kuunganisha DNA vinavyoweza kuunganisha DNA na data, vinavyoweza kuunganisha data na data ya ulimwengu, vinaweza kuunganisha data na data ya ulimwengu. Kwa mfano, kuna uwezekano wa kugundua spishi za wanyama na wanyama kwa kutumia DNA ndogo sana katika gramu moja ya udongo. Programu ya CALEDNA iliundwa chini ya UC Conservation Genomics Consortium iliyoungwa mkono na mpango wa ruzuku ya katalishi ya Rais wa UC Janet Napolitano. "Kwa hali ya hewa kali zaidi inayoenea katika jimbo hilo, na karibu spishi 1,000 kwenye orodha za hatari au za kuangalia, California haiwezi kusubiri kuchukua hatua, ""alisema Robert Wayne, profesa wa UCLA wa ikolojia na biolojia ya mageuzi ambaye anaongoza shirika hilo." Shirika la Conservation International limetaja jimbo la California kuwa mojawapo ya maeneo yenye viumbe wengi wa aina mbalimbali, na idadi kubwa ya spishi ambazo ziko hatarini kwa sababu ya shughuli za wanadamu. Wanyama wa mwituni wa California wako hatarini hasa kwa sababu zaidi ya asilimia 70 ya mazingira yao ya asili yamepotea kutokana na maendeleo na uharibifu wa ardhi. Moja ya changamoto kuu zinazokabiliwa na wanabiolojia wa uhifadhi ni kwa ufanisi kufuatilia usambazaji wa spishi na kuanzisha msingi wa kuaminika wa utofauti wa kibiolojia wa mkoa - ambayo ni muhimu kwa kugundua mapema kupungua kwa spishi. CALEDNA inakusudia kukabiliana na changamoto hizi kwa kukusanya na kuchambua sampuli ili kuanzisha msingi wa utofauti wa kibiolojia wa California. "Tutaanzisha jumba la makumbusho la DNA ya mazingira", Wayne akasema. CALEDNA itatangaza wazi habari kuhusu maendeleo yake na ukusanyaji wa data na uchambuzi ili kufanya ufuatiliaji wa bioanuwai rahisi na ufanisi zaidi. Unaweza kuwa sehemu ya mradi huu muhimu wa uumbaji. Imetolewa na Chuo Kikuu cha California, Los Angeles