Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation

Environmental DNA (eDNA) has become an important tool for marine biodiversity monitoring, offering a non-invasive alternative to traditional sampling methods. This bioinformatic analysis of eDNA samples collected from 24 stations between the years 2014-2016, aims to compare eDNA sampling with more conventional fish larvae sampling methods in assessing teleost fish diversity within the California Current. Specifically, the project determines where there are overlapping findings between the eDNA and corresponding fish larvae samples from the same locations sampled at the same time. The project also analyzes potential correlations between certain environmental and physical variables and the eDNA samples. Due to a limited number of overall fish reads resulting from the eDNA samples, a PCR optimization experiment was also conducted as part of the project to test variables that may increase fish reads. Overall findings from the study demonstrate that a rigorous data analysis was able to be conducted from the sample set, yet future efforts to improve the amount of fish reads would be beneficial. The data show that eDNA is best used in conjunction with other, more traditional methods to gain a full scope of the fish community composition within an ecosystem.

Please see link below for other media created for this project: https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/6622f6c4958a4d2e8a721e5ef0db3ac1__;!!Mih3wA!GlGiNAE79s4UK1Xk23d_ivUCh6A7WiEdh5PbbXll_jgGhNlCM968ty_kz0ixWPYXlIrmCR_PXcw3R7tCfF8$