Commentary: integrating environmental DNA into applied ecological practice
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COMMENTARY AND OPINION
Commentary: integrating environmental DNA into applied ecological practice Jennifer Petruniak 1 & Douglas Bradley 2
&
Jocelyn M. Kelly 3 & Robert H. Hanner 3
Accepted: 24 September 2020 # AESS 2020
Abstract Environmental DNA (eDNA) methods and technologies are increasingly being explored and applied in research studies and environmental monitoring. Although eDNA has some limitations, there is the potential for major advantages to using this method within a regulatory context for characterizing and assessing species, populations, communities, and whole ecosystems. This commentary explores some of the challenges and solutions to acceptance of eDNA methods by regulators and regulated communities as an option for environmental monitoring. Increased collaborative eDNA forums and eDNA studies among researchers, regulators, applied ecologists, and regulated communities would help delineate the benefits, limitations, and appropriate applications of eDNA methods. This could facilitate development of best practices and industry standards which could, in turn, lead to acceptance by regulators and regulated communities. Finally, opportunities for applying eDNA to complement or even improve conventional monitoring methods are illustrated using three examples of regulatory environmental monitoring studies for protecting species at risk. Keywords eDNA . Environmental monitoring . Biodiversity . Cost-benefit analysis . Industrial development
Introduction The global attention on biodiversity continues to increase amid rising concerns of a changing environment due to climate change, legacy and current anthropogenic growth, invasive species, and species at risk. The global response has focused on restoration planning and monitoring of the presence and trends in species, communities, and their habitats (IPBES 2019; DNAqua-Net 2017). Researchers provide a key role in developing novel, practical, and effective techniques for applied scientists to assess and document environmental conditions and trends. Environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques are becoming an important component in the complex assortment of available detection and monitoring tools (Atlantic Canada eDNA Workshop Report 2019; Darling 2019; PISCeS 2018).
* Douglas Bradley [email protected] 1
Dillon Consulting Limited, Toronto, ON, Canada
2
LimnoTech, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
3
Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada
Overall, these techniques involve collecting environmental samples (e.g., water, soil) and analyzing them for the presence of DNA shed by organisms using molecular tools such as quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR; Taberlet et al., 2018; Goldberg et al. 2013). Samples are analyzed to determine the existence of DNA that originated from one or more target species through sloughing of cells, bodily excretion, etc. The results of eDNA analyses can be used to assess the presence of target species using molecular identification methods and without interacting directly with organisms or using morpho
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