Assessing arthropod diversity metrics derived from stream environmental DNA: spatiotemporal variation and paired comparisons with manual sampling.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Benthic invertebrate (BI) surveys have been widely used to characterize freshwater environmental quality but can be challenging to implement at desired spatial scales and frequency. Environmental DNA (eDNA) allows an alternative BI survey approach, one that can potentially be implemented more rapidly and cheaply than traditional methods.

Methods

We evaluated eDNA analogs of BI metrics in the Potomac River watershed of the eastern United States. We first compared arthropod diversity detected with primers targeting mitochondrial 16S (mt16S) and cytochrome c oxidase 1 (cox1 or COI) loci to that detected by manual surveys conducted in parallel. We then evaluated spatial and temporal variation in arthropod diversity metrics with repeated sampling in three focal parks.

SUBMITTER: Aunins AA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10069422 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature