Ancient DNA as a tool to study Australia's paleome: exploring climatic change, past biodiversity, extinctions and long-term survival of DNA.

澳大利亚生态系统的恢复只有在我们知道在引入有害物种之前该地区曾经生活着什么植物、动物和昆虫的情况下才能发生。这个项目将使用从数千年前的粪便和洞穴沉积物中获得的古代DNA来发现过去生活在哪里和什么时候的物种。过去生态系统的古老DNA图谱将使我们在试图建立可持续的和“自然的”大陆和岛屿保护区时做出更好的决定。古代DNA在一些干燥的环境中保存完好；该项目将评估澳大利亚各地遗址的DNA保存情况，并使用DNA序列来发现有关灭绝动物的信息，以及过去的气候变化如何影响本地生物群。

Restoration of Australian ecosystems can only occur if we know what plants, animals and insects used to live in the area before 'pest' species were introduced. This project will use ancient DNA obtained from 'poo' and cave sediments, that is thousands of years old, to discover what species used to live where and when. The ancient DNA profiles of past ecosystems will allow us to make better decisions when trying to establish sustainable and 'natural' mainland and island sanctuaries. Ancient DNA is well preserved in some dry environments; this project will assess DNA preservation from sites all across Australia and use the DNA sequences to discover information about extinct animals and how past climate changes effected the native biota.