At <scp>Palmyra Atoll</scp>, the fish‐community environmental <scp>DNA</scp> signal changes across habitats but not with tides
Kevin D. Lafferty, Ana E. Garcia‐Vedrenne, John P. McLaughlin, Jasmine N. Childress, Marisa F. Morse, Christopher L. Jerde
Abstract
At Palmyra Atoll, the environmental DNA (eDNA) signal on tidal sand flats was associated with fish biomass density and captured 98%-100% of the expected species diversity there. Although eDNA spilled over across habitats, species associated with reef habitat contributed more eDNA to reef sites than to sand-flat sites, and species associated with sand-flat habitat contributed more eDNA to sand-flat sites than to reef sites. Tides did not disrupt the sand-flat habitat signal. At least 25 samples give a coverage >97.5% at this diverse, tropical, marine system.
Topics & Concepts
HabitatReefBiologyEnvironmental DNABiomass (ecology)EcologyAtollFisheryOceanographyBiodiversityGeologyEnvironmental DNA in Biodiversity StudiesIdentification and Quantification in FoodMicrobial Community Ecology and Physiology