WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS
Researchers compared camera traps and environmental DNA water sampling across 13 farms in Spain. Under their sampling design, camera traps detected higher taxonomic richness; eDNA detectability varied with animal ecology and group behavior. Molecular water signals also varied with some livestock-density measures.
WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ
An assay can be technically sensitive yet miss animals that rarely contact the sampling medium. Wildlife disease-interface monitoring is strongest when detections are designed around the species and behavior being measured, rather than declaring one tool universally superior.
CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY
One waterbody was sampled per farm and trap placement and effort differed by method. No pathogen transmission or disease reduction was demonstrated.
SOURCE
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution · field monitoring comparison
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