biostudies-literatureUnknown15(11)Maitland VCNatural Resources CanadaGenome CanadaBiomonitoring is an essential tool for assessing ecological conditions and informing management strategies. The application of DNA metabarcoding and high throughput sequencing has improved data quantity and resolution for biomonitoring of taxa such as macroinvertebrates, yet, there remains the need to optimise these methods for other taxonomic groups. Diatoms have a longstanding history in freshwater biomonitoring as bioindicators of water quality status. However, multi-substrate periphyton collection, a common diatom sampling practice, is time-consuming and thus costly in terms of labour. This study examined whether the benthic kick-net technique used for macroinvertebrate biomonitoring could be applied to bulk-sample diatoms for metabarcoding. To test this approach, we collected samples PloS onee0242143https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC7673570biostudies-literatureFreshwater diatom biomonitoring through benthic kick-net metabarcoding.PMC7673570Maitland VCPorter TMRobinson CVHajibabaei MfalseFreshwater diatom biomonitoring through benthic kick-net metabarcoding.Biomonitoring is an essential tool for assessing ecological conditions and informing management strategies. The application of DNA metabarcoding and high throughput sequencing has improved data quantity and resolution for biomonitoring of taxa such as macroinvertebrates, yet, there remains the need to optimise these methods for other taxonomic groups. Diatoms have a longstanding history in freshwater biomonitoring as bioindicators of water quality status. However, multi-substrate periphyton collection, a common diatom sampling practice, is time-consuming and thus costly in terms of labour. This study examined whether the benthic kick-net technique used for macroinvertebrate biomonitoring could be applied to bulk-sample diatoms for metabarcoding. To test this approach, we collected samples 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z20202025-04-22T14:40:00.241Z2025-04-06T01:05:32.476ZS-EPMC76735703320670010.1371/journal.pone.0242143