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Ecologists dig deep for DNA

Nature (2011)Cite this article

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Soil samples can reveal biological diversity.

Ecologists have spent decades trapping and tagging species in the name of understanding biodiversity, but a far easier way may lie just beneath their feet. Soil contains fragments of DNA that can accurately reveal an area's animal diversity, according to a recent study in Molecular Ecology1.

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References

  1. Andersen, K. et al. Mol. Ecol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2011.05261.x (2011).

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  1. Amy Maxmen
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Eske Willerslev

Amy Vandergast

Robert Hanner

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Maxmen, A. Ecologists dig deep for DNA. Nature (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/news.2011.556

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/news.2011.556

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