Validity of eDNA in the calculation of marine biodiversity

Miller is responsible for the research on this website supported by the National Science Foundation

Miller said: "There are many different ways to measure it, but I think it is the replacement of species from one place to another

Beta diversity can be used to measure the overall status of biodiversity in specific areas over time, thereby indicating the ecological health of these areas to a certain extent

However, calculating species in SBC LTER has its challenges

Miller said: "Some may be outside of the time you sampled, such as at night or at different times of the day

DNA into the environment

Catherine Pitts, a research assistant at MBARI in Moss Landing, California, explained: “When organic matter moves in water, they leave molecular traces through excrement or shed material with DNA

In a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports, the researchers demonstrated the effectiveness of eDNA analysis in measuring beta diversity in the aquatic environment

In this study, the researchers collaborated with the Southern California Bay Marine Biodiversity Observation Network and the Central and Northern California Ocean Observing System (CenCOOS) Central California Marine Biodiversity Observation Network to compare nine locations along the coast of Santa Barbara.

Miller said: "eDNA can detect a much larger number of species than divers, which is not particularly surprising, because fish release their DNA into the water through mucus and breathing

According to Miller, in terms of abundance, eDNA species detection is consistent with the information obtained by UVC

"They are very consistent with the diver's survey results-the large number of fish that the divers saw is also very abundant in the eDNA samples," he said

At the same time, eDNA successfully captured the presence of leopard sharks and bat rays, but visual investigations failed to capture them

With the powerful detection capabilities of eDNA, does the diver's investigation come to an end? No, Miller said

He said: "The advantage of eDNA is that it does provide time integration, allowing you to better understand what might be outside of the time you took the sample

Pitz added: "We are still studying the different factors that control the presence of eDNA in seawater, such as how long the DNA can stay in the water before it degrades, or how quickly the fish can leave enough material for us to detect its DNA in the sample

In addition, the fish DNA database citing the results of meta-coding also needs to be improved
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(Several DNA sequences detected are not found in the library
.
) "More research," Miller said, "will increase confidence in interpreting eDNA data
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"

"We don't think this will replace traditional methods, but it is indeed a good source of additional data to observe whether these fish communities and other communities are changing," he added
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"EDNA will be a very useful method for expanding ocean monitoring, especially for rare species and habitats that are difficult to observe, such as deep water, which will require less effort than dispatching professional fish counting divers or submersibles.
And cost
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"

Journal Reference :

1. Thomas Lamy, Kathleen J.
   Pitz, Francisco P.
   Chavez, Christie E.
   Yorke, Robert J.
   Miller.
   Environmental DNA reveals the fine-grained and hierarchical spatial structure of kelp forest fish communities .
   Scientific Reports , 2021; 11 (1) DOI : 10.
   1038/s41598-021-93859-5