Detecting aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity in a tropical estuary using environmental DNA

Polanco F., A. and Mutis Martinezguerra, M. and Marques, V. and Villa-Navarro, F. and Borrero Pérez, G.H. and Cheutin, M.-C. and Dejean, T. and Hocdé, R. and Juhel, J.-B. and Maire, E. and Manel, S. and Spescha, M. and Valentini, A. and Mouillot, D. and Albouy, C. and Pellissier, L. (2021) Detecting aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity in a tropical estuary using environmental DNA. Biotropica. ISSN 0006-3606

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Abstract

Estuaries are characterized by a tidal regime and are strongly influenced by hydrodynamics and host diverse and highly dynamic habitats, from fresh, brackish, or saltwater to terrestrial, whose biodiversity is especially difficult to monitor. Here, we investigated the potential of environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding, with three primer sets targeting different regions of the mitochondrial DNA 12S ribosomal RNA gene, to detect vertebrate diversity in the estuary of the Don Diego River in Colombia. With eDNA, we detected not only aquatic organisms, including fishes, amphibians, and reptiles, but also a large diversity of terrestrial, arboreal, and flying vertebrates, including mammals and birds, living in the estuary surroundings. Further, the eDNA signal remained relatively localized along the watercourse. A transect from the deep outer section of the estuary, across the river mouth toward the inner section of the river, showed marked taxonomic turnover from typical marine to freshwater fishes, while eDNA of terrestrial and arboreal species was mainly found in the inner section of the estuary. Our results indicate that eDNA enables the detection of a large diversity of vertebrates and could become an important tool for biodiversity monitoring in estuaries, where water integrates information across the ecosystem. Abstract in Spanish is available with online material.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Biotropica
Additional Information:
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Polanco F., A., Mutis Martinezguerra, M., Marques, V., Villa-Navarro, F., Borrero Pérez, G. H., Cheutin, M.-C., Dejean, T., Hocdé, R., Juhel, J.-B., Maire, E., Manel, S., Spescha, M., Valentini, A., Mouillot, D., Albouy, C., & Pellissier, L. (2021). Detecting aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity in a tropical estuary using environmental DNA. Biotropica, 00, 1– 14. https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.13009 which has been published in final form at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/btp.13009 This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1100/1105
Subjects:
?? biodiversitybiomonitoringcaribbean seacolombiadon diego riverenvironmental dnasierra nevada de santa martatropical ecosystemvertebrateecology, evolution, behavior and systematics ??
ID Code:
159920
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
21 Sep 2021 11:14
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
18 Feb 2024 01:00