Case Studies

The Great Australian Wildlife Search is an ambitious project using citizen science and eDNA monitoring to address significant knowledge gaps in biodiversity throughout Australia. Traditional methods for monitoring over large areas can be challenging due to their high costs, labor-intensive nature, and time-consuming processes.

This project partners with Sugar Research Australia to explore simple environmental sampling approaches to indirectly identify species that have recently been in an area, or to directly identify species that are difficult to identify by non-genetic methods.

The Budj Bim landscape is located on Gunditjmara Country in southwest Victoria, Australia. This area is an extremely culturally significant landscape and is home to a range of native and threatened species. eDNA surveys were used to survey the extensive landscape area in a quick and cost-effective way whilst gaining critical biodiversity data to assist in future management and planning decisions.

Funded by the Victorian Junior Landcare Biodiversity Grants, students engaged in hands-on biological research and water sampling. Key outcomes included real-world ecological project participation, field sampling experience and enhanced understanding of DNA and conservation. These projects encouraged students to explore their local ecosystems, fostering awareness of biodiversity and conservation.

Burnett Mary Regional Group is undertaking a biodiversity assessment for native fauna as part of a project developing a comprehensive environmental account of natural assets in the region. This project applies an EnviroDNA Method under the Accounting for Nature framework that uses eDNA to support large scale monitoring.

This project evaluated the water quality of remote sites in Papua New Guinea, using SourceDNA to track gastrointestinal pathogens in waterways and understand catchment health for the conservation forest and human communities.

South-eastern Australia experienced devastating bushfires during the summer of 2019/20. EnviroDNA partnered with Cesar Australia to undertake a broadscale eDNA survey funded through the Australian Government Regional Bushfire Recovery for Multiregional Species and Strategic Projects Program to quantify the potential impacts on platypuses in NSW using landscape-scale occupancy data.

This is the largest systematic investigation of platypuses ever undertaken, assessing over 1800 sites throughout all Victorian river basins. Odonata Foundation partnered with EnviroDNA to develop a national aquatic monitoring program utilising eDNA and citizen scientists to generate landscape scale data.

East Gippsland Landcare Network sought used eDNA to investigate the diet of foxes from scat samples found in Blond Bay Wildlife Reserve following the extensive Black bushfires. This study involved a particular interest in the presence of migratory shorebird species,

Melbourne Water used eDNA for project 'Aquablitz' designed to provide a biodiversity snapshot within Melbourne’s waterway catchments. These catchments are home to a diverse range of animals, including fish, frogs, water birds, mammals, crayfish, reptiles and macroinvertebrates. To identify opportunities to protect and improve the health of waterways, Melbourne Water needs ongoing information about where various species occur.