Hydrological Connectivity Enhances Fish Biodiversity in Amazonian Mining Ponds: Insights From eDNA and Traditional Sampling.

ABSTRACT: Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) expansion in the Madre de Dios region of the Peruvian Amazon has transformed primary forests into a novel wetland complex of thousands of abandoned mining ponds. Despite their ecological relevance, post-mining recovery of these systems remains understudied, particularly regarding fish biodiversity and recolonisation. In this study, we evaluate fish community richness and composition in mining ponds of different dimensions, years post abandonment, physicochemical properties and degree of pulse flood connectivity using traditional collection-based methods and environmental DNA (eDNA) with the 12S and COI markers. We compared these two methods of biodiversity inventory and contrasted results from ASGM waterbodies with those obtained from nearby pri

SUBMITTER: Timana-Mendoza C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12100589 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature