In the two decades or so since ancient sedimentary DNA (sedaDNA) took its place as a new Quaternary paleo-proxy, there have been large advances in the scope of its applications and its reliability. The two main approaches, metabarcoding and shotgun sequencing, have contributed exciting insights into areas such as floristic diversity change, plant-herbivore interactions, extinction, conservation baselines and impacts of invasive species. Early doubts as to its potential to contribute novel information have been dispelled; more is now understood about the passage of sedaDNA from the original organism to a component of soil or sediment and about the range of uncertainties that must be addressed in the interpretation of data. With its move into the mainstream, it is now time to develop effective data archives for sedaDNA, refine our understanding of central issues such as taphonomy, and further expand the potential for describing, both qualitatively and quantitatively, the history of past ecosystems.

中文翻译：

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第四纪古生态与古沉积DNA的成熟关系

自古沉积 DNA 以来的二十年左右（sedaDNA) 取代了它作为新的第四纪古代理，在其应用范围和可靠性方面取得了很大进展。元条形码和鸟枪测序这两种主要方法为植物区系多样性变化、植物-草食动物相互作用、灭绝、保护基线和入侵物种的影响等领域提供了令人兴奋的见解。早期对其贡献新信息的潜力的怀疑已被消除；现在对sedaDNA 从原始生物到土壤或沉积物的组成部分，以及在解释数据时必须解决的不确定性范围。随着它成为主流，现在是时候开发有效的数据档案了sedaDNA，改进了我们对诸如埋藏学等核心问题的理解，并进一步扩大了定性和定量描述过去生态系统历史的潜力。