CORDIS OpenAire Sygma HAL INRAE Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (BASE) HAL-INSU HAL-IRD Crossref Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA) Institutional Repository UvA-DARE HAL-CEA European Union Open Data Portal https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11104-021-05261-9.pdf https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-021-05261-9 Plant and Soil Open Access 2022-01-30 2022-03-09 High mountain environments are among the most fragile on Earth. Due to anthropogenic disturbances and the exposure to extreme weather events, the rates of soil erosion have recently been accelerating, resulting in ecological degradation and geological hazards. Ecological restoration of mountains and an improved understanding of nature-based solutions to mitigate land degradation is therefore of utmost urgency. Identifying hotspots of soil erosion is a first step towards improving mitigation strategies. A promising methodology to identify erosion hotspots is sediment source fingerprinting, that differentiates the properties of soil from different sources, using signatures such as elemental geochemistry or radionuclides. However, in areas with complex lithologies or shallow and poorly developed soils, geochemical fingerprints allow only a rough distinction between erosion hotspots. In this opinion paper, we explore the relevance of environmental DNA (eDNA) that originates from plant litter and fixes onto fine soil particles, as a targeted sediment fingerprinting method sensitive to vegetation that could potentially allow the identification of erosion hotspots and their relative importance from sedimentary deposits. Pioneering studies indicate that eDNA allows not only the detection of specific vegetation communities, but also the identification of individual plant species. Supported by the increasing availability and quality of vegetation maps and eDNA reference libraries, we argue that sediment source fingerprinting using eDNA from plant litter, will evolve into a valuable method to identify hotspots of soil erosion and allow stakeholders to prioritize areas where ecological restoration is necessary in high mountain environments. Soil and water bioengineering Vegetation [SDV.BID.SPT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Systematics 550 Sediment source fingerprinting Phylogenetics and taxonomy [SDV.BV.BOT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Vegetal Biology/Botanics 15. Life on land Alpine 01 natural sciences [SDV.BV.BOT] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Vegetal Biology/Botanics [SDE.BE] Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology Landslide Erosion 13. Climate action [SDV.EE.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology [SDV.BID.SPT] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Systematics, Phylogenetics and taxonomy [SDV.EE.ECO] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology, environment/Ecosystems [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology environment/Ecosystems sedDNA 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Amaury Frankl, Olivier Evrard, Erik Cammeraat, Bjorn Tytgat, Elie Verleyen, Alexia Stokes, 2022-01-30 journalpaper High mountain environments are among the most fragile on Earth. Due to anthropogenic disturbances and the exposure to extreme weather events, the rates of soil erosion have recently been accelerating, resulting in ecological degradation and geological hazards. Ecological restoration of mountains and an improved understanding of nature-based solutions to mitigate land degradation is therefore of utmost urgency. Identifying hotspots of soil erosion is a first step towards improving mitigation strategies. A promising methodology to identify erosion hotspots is sediment source fingerprinting, that differentiates the properties of soil from different sources, using signatures such as elemental geochemistry or radionuclides. However, in areas with complex lithologies or shallow and poorly developed soils, geochemical fingerprints allow only a rough distinction between erosion hotspots. In this opinion paper, we explore the relevance of environmental DNA (eDNA) that originates from plant litter and fixes onto fine soil particles, as a targeted sediment fingerprinting method sensitive to vegetation that could potentially allow the identification of erosion hotspots and their relative importance from sedimentary deposits. Pioneering studies indicate that eDNA allows not only the detection of specific vegetation communities, but also the identification of individual plant species. Supported by the increasing availability and quality of vegetation maps and eDNA reference libraries, we argue that sediment source fingerprinting using eDNA from plant litter, will evolve into a valuable method to identify hotspots of soil erosion and allow stakeholders to prioritize areas where ecological restoration is necessary in high mountain environments. Tracing hotspots of soil erosion in high mountain environments: how forensic science based on plant eDNA can lead the way. An opinion 10.1007/s11104-021-05261-9