Simultaneous species detection and discovery with environmental DNA metabarcoding: A freshwater mollusk case study.

ABSTRACT: Environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling is a powerful tool for rapidly characterizing biodiversity patterns for specious, cryptic taxa with incomplete taxonomies. One such group that are also of high conservation concern are North American freshwater gastropods. In particular, springsnails of the genus Pyrgulopsis (Family: Hydrobiidae) are prevalent throughout the western United States where >140 species have been described. Many of the described species are narrow endemics known from a single spring or locality, and it is believed that there are likely many additional species which have yet to be described. The distribution of these species across the landscape is of interest because habitat loss and degradation, climate change, groundwater mining, and pollution have resulted in springsn

SUBMITTER: Vanderpool DD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10870330 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature