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Aquatic biodiversity assessment for the lazy
Author(s) -
Hoffmann Constanze,
Schubert Grit,
CalvignacSpencer Sébastien
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
molecular ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.619
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1365-294X
pISSN - 0962-1083
DOI - 10.1111/mec.13535
Subject(s) - environmental dna , biology , biodiversity , aquatic ecosystem , dna barcoding , ecosystem , vertebrate , ecology , fish <actinopterygii> , molecular ecology , variety (cybernetics) , fishery , computer science , gene , artificial intelligence , genetics , population , demography , sociology
The world is covered in DNA. In any ecosystem, extracellular DNA fragments can be found that once formed the genomes of a variety of micro‐ and macroorganisms. A few years ago, it was proposed to use this environmental DNA (eDNA) as a source of information on local vertebrate biodiversity (Ficetola et al . [Ficetola GF, 2008]; Taberlet et al . [Taberlet P, 2012]). This idea offered an elegant solution to take up the gauntlet of rapidly increasing monitoring needs. Coupled with barcoding efforts, it promised to be cost‐efficient in many respects, for example man‐hours and taxonomic expertise. Ecologists and conservation biologists with an interest in aquatic ecosystems have enthusiastically adopted and pioneered this new method, producing dozens of eDNA studies. Most of these studies have, however, focused on a single or a few aquatic species. In this issue of Molecular Ecology , Valentini et al . ([Valentini A, 2016]) move the field a step further by demonstrating that metabarcoding approaches – which simultaneously target large groups of organisms such as amphibians or fish – can match and sometimes even outperform other inventory methods.