Large-scale environmental DNA survey reveals niche axes of a regional coastal fish community.

ABSTRACT: The concept of the ecological niche, defined as the basic habitat requirements for a species, is central to understanding species geographic distributions and predicting their responses to environmental change. However, identifying the essential niche for large regional communities remains a challenge because niche axes can be "hidden" by the complexity of the underlying ecological processes. Here, applying advanced species distribution modelling to nationwide environmental DNA survey data, we identified hidden niche axes of the Japanese coastal fish community and investigated the response diversity to these axes. Our survey detected 1,220 coastal fish species. The hidden niche axes collectively explained most of the variation in fish biodiversity and revealed five biogeographic boundaries

SUBMITTER: Osada Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12909844 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature