The research on eDNA initiated in microbiology, recognizing that culture-based methods grossly misrepresent the microbial diversity in nature. Subsequently, as a method to assess the diversity of macro-organismal communities, eDNA was first analyzed in sediments, revealing DNA from extinct and extant animals and plants, but has since been obtained from various terrestrial and aquatic environmental samples. Results from eDNA approaches have provided valuable insights to the study of ancient environments and proven useful for monitoring contemporary biodiversity in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.