Aquatic eDNA outperforms sedimentary eDNA for the detection of estuarine fish communities in subtropical coastal vegetated ecosystems.

ABSTRACT: In South Africa, mangrove forests and seagrass meadows often co-occur in estuarine systems and in combination host rich, often endemic biodiversity. There is an urgent need to explore community diversity in coastal vegetated ecosystems, given the degrading effects of climate change and anthropogenic pressures. Environmental DNA metabarcoding is a promising biomonitoring tool in South African coastal ecosystems, although studies highlight the need to optimise and standardise sampling protocols. This study aimed to contribute to developing sampling protocols by understanding the applicability of environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding within coastal vegetated habitats and by investigating diversity using two different sample types. Aquatic and sedimentary environmental DNA samples from three

SUBMITTER: Rossouw EI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12360151 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature