A field ecologist's guide to environmental DNA sampling in freshwater environments

McColl-Gausden, Emily F.; Weeks, Andrew R.; Tingley, Reid

doi:10.7882/az.2019.025

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 52 publications

(92 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…absolute abundance (McColl-Gausden et al, 2023;Sapkota et al, 2023). For successful NIS identification, both approaches rely on the availability of reference sequence data.…”

Section: Convention For the Protection Of The Marine Environment Of T...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Marine invasive alien species in Europe: 9 years after the IAS Regulation

Katsanevakis,

Olenin,

Puntila-Dodd

et al. 2023

Front. Mar. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Biological invasions, resulting from human activities, exert substantial impacts on ecosystems worldwide. This review focuses on marine invasive alien species (IAS) in Europe, examining the current state, proposing strategies to address the problem, and offering recommendations for enhanced management. Effective management of biological invasions relies on accessible, accurate data to inform decision-making. Information systems such as the European Alien Species Information Network (EASIN), Aquatic Non-Indigenous and Cryptogenic Species (AquaNIS), and World Register of Introduced Marine Species (WriMS) provide comprehensive databases on IAS, but their sustainability requires long-term maintenance, continuous updates, and support. Most countries lack specific monitoring programs for marine IAS, and standardization and improvement of monitoring methods are needed. Port monitoring plays a vital role in the early detection of new arrivals, and recent advancements in molecular techniques show promise for effective IAS monitoring. Risk screening tools are commonly employed to rank taxa based on their invasiveness potential in European regions, but variations in protocols can yield inconsistent results. European impact assessments highlight resource competition, novel habitat creation, and predation as primary mechanisms for negative impacts on biodiversity, while the creation of novel habitats represents a key mechanism for positive impacts. Preventing IAS introductions is critical, and measures such as ballast water treatment systems are implemented to reduce the likelihood of marine introductions. However, understanding introduction pathways remains uncertain for many IAS. Eradication and control efforts for marine IAS have limited success, emphasizing the need for enhanced biosecurity measures. Climate change, especially ocean warming, can intensify IAS impacts on native species and ecosystems. In climate change hotspots, some tropical aliens may, however, compensate for the loss of thermally sensitive natives with similar traits. Therefore, it is imperative to consider the interactions between climate change and IAS in developing effective management and conservation strategies. Enhancing IAS management in Europe entails i) securing adequate funding, ii) expanding the list of IAS of Union Concern to adequately cover marine invasions, iii) learning from countries with successful biosecurity practices, iv) sustaining information systems, v) improving monitoring and early warning systems with innovative technologies, vi) enhancing prediction models, vii) conducting integrated impact assessments and mapping cumulative IAS impacts, and vii) considering the potential benefits of IAS in ecosystem functioning and services.

show abstract

“…absolute abundance (McColl-Gausden et al, 2023;Sapkota et al, 2023). For successful NIS identification, both approaches rely on the availability of reference sequence data.…”

Section: Convention For the Protection Of The Marine Environment Of T...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Marine invasive alien species in Europe: 9 years after the IAS Regulation

Katsanevakis,

Olenin,

Puntila-Dodd

et al. 2023

Front. Mar. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Fishy Business—Assessing the Efficacy of Active and Passive eDNA to Describe the Fish Assemblage of a River in Southwestern Western Australia to Support Effective Monitoring

Stevens,

Hyde,

Beesley

et al. 2024

Environmental DNA

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Worldwide, freshwater vertebrate populations are declining with increasing pressure on rivers due to numerous environmental and climatic threats. Environmental DNA (eDNA) could potentially provide a more efficient and non‐invasive mechanism to monitor freshwater systems, either as a complement or in replacement to traditional methods to accurately assess species' distributions. Here, we utilize a hierarchical multispecies N‐mixture model to compare three fish sampling methods: traditional fyke netting and active and passive environmental DNA sampling along a 30 km stretch of the Canning River in Western Australia. We used the fitted model to compare capture probabilities among sampling methods and reveal the sampling effort required to describe the species assemblage. Results indicated that while all methods could detect fish, combined eDNA methodologies detected one more fish species than those caught by fyke netting. In addition, active eDNA sampling produced the highest capture probabilities and more consistently described the entire fish assemblage at any given site. Fyke netting and passive eDNA did not show significant differences in their average capture probabilities, and both methods had lower abilities to capture individual species than active eDNA. Active eDNA also required fewer replicate samples to detect the expected observed richness, and fyke netting required the most replicates. Additionally, a hierarchical multispecies abundance model showed that active environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling is the most effective method for monitoring freshwater fish populations. This study contributes to our understanding of eDNA in aquatic systems and demonstrates that, at least under current conditions, active sampling is still the preferred method in freshwater systems with low flow compared to both passive sampling and fyke netting.

show abstract