@article{fdi:010060795,
  title = {{U}nveiling the diet of elusive rainforest herbivores in next generation sequencing era ? {T}he tapir as a case study},
  author = {{H}ibert, {F}. and {T}aberlet, {P}. and {C}have, {J}. and {S}cotti-{S}aintagne, {C}. and {S}abatier, {D}aniel and {R}ichard-{H}ansen, {C}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{C}haracterizing the trophic relationships between large herbivores and the outstanding plant diversity in rainforest is a major challenge because of their elusiveness. {T}his is crucial to understand the role of these herbivores in the functioning of the rainforest ecosystems. {W}e tested a non-invasive approach based on the high-throughput sequencing of environmental samples using small plant plastid sequences (the trn{L} {P}6 loop) and ribosomal {ITS}1 primers, referred to as {DNA} metabarcoding, to investigate the diet of the largest neotropical herbivore, the lowland tapir. {S}equencing was performed on plant {DNA} extracted from tapir faeces collected at the {N}ouragues station, a protected area of {F}rench {G}uiana. {I}n spite of a limited sampling, our approach reliably provided information about the lowland tapir's diet at this site. {I}ndeed, 95.1% and 74.4% of the plant families and genera identified thanks to the trn{L} {P}6 loop, respectively, matched with taxa already known to be consumed by tapirs. {W}ith this approach we were able to show that two families and eight new genera are also consumed by the lowland tapir. {T}he taxonomic resolution of this method is limited to the plant family and genera. {C}omplementary barcodes, such as a small portion of {ITS}1, can be used to efficiently narrow identifications down to the species in some problematic families. {W}e will discuss the remaining limitations of this approach and how useful it is at this stage to unravel the diet of elusive rainforest herbivores and better understand their role as engineers of the ecosystem.},
  keywords = {{GUYANE} {FRANCAISE}},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{P}lo{S} {O}ne},
  volume = {8},
  numero = {4},
  pages = {art. e60799},
  ISSN = {1932-6203},
  year = {2013},
  DOI = {10.1371/journal.pone.0060799},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010060795},
}