Words matter: extensive misapplication of "non-invasive" in describing DNA sampling methods, and proposed clarifying terms

Authors: Sappington, Thomas

Submitted to: Peer Community in Ecology
Publication Type: Literature Review
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/16/2019
Publication Date: 9/16/2019
Citation: Sappington, T.W. 2019. Words matter: extensive misapplication of "non-invasive" in describing DNA sampling methods, and proposed clarifying terms. Peer Community in Ecology. 100029. https://doi.org/10.24072/pci.ecology.100029.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24072/pci.ecology.100029

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: This is a recommendation of the work by Lefort et al. 2019. From an extensive analysis of recent literature, the authors document widespread misapplication of the term "non-invasive" to DNA sampling methods from animals in the wild. The importance of the Lefort et al. paper lies in the authors' call for the research community to use care when applying the term "non-invasive" to DNA sampling methods. In addition, they propose the terms "non-disruptive" and "minimally-disruptive" to describe sampling methods which are not strictly non-invasive but are of low impact. Answering the call for correct use of "non-invasive" and applying the proposed new terms for certain types of invasive sampling with a focus on level of disruption, will go a long way in limiting misconceptions and misinterpretations caused by the current terminology, and make this paper particularly noteworthy. For the full paper see: M.-C. Lefort et al. 2019. Blood, sweat and tears: a review of non-invasive DNA sampling. bioRxiv, 385120, ver. 4.