Seasonal changes in the structure of river fish communities in temperate Japan depicted using quantitative eDNA metabarcoding.

ABSTRACT: Understanding fish communities contributes to various fields ranging from theoretical ecology to fisheries management. In rivers flowing from mountainous to urban areas and showing seasonal variations in water temperatures, fish community structure may be spatiotemporally affected by natural and anthropogenic factors. We investigated the spatial and seasonal dynamics of fish communities in the Isazu River (17.9 km) and its tributary, Ikeuchi River, in temperate Japan, using eDNA metabarcoding method. We detected 78 fish operational taxonomic units across four seasons at 12 sites along the river length. The fish community differed significantly among different seasons and sites, aligning with the distance from the river mouth. In particular, the eDNA concentrations (copies/L) of major fishe

SUBMITTER: Ito T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12266392 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature