Investigating the effects of anthropogenic stressors on lake biota using sedimentary <scp>DNA</scp>
Cécilia Barouillet, Marie‐Ève Monchamp, Stefan Bertilsson, Katie A. Brasell, Isabelle Domaizon, Laura S. Epp, Anan Ibrahim, Hebah Mejbel, Ebuka Canisius Nwosu, John K. Pearman, Maïlys Picard, Georgia Thomson‐Laing, Narumi K. Tsugeki, Jordan Von Eggers, Irene Gregory‐Eaves, Frances R. Pick, Susanna A. Wood, Éric Capo
Abstract
Abstract Analyses of sedimentary DNA ( sed DNA) have increased exponentially over the last decade and hold great potential to study the effects of anthropogenic stressors on lake biota over time. Herein, we synthesise the literature that has applied a sed DNA approach to track historical changes in lake biodiversity in response to anthropogenic impacts, with an emphasis on the past c. 200 years. We identified the following research themes that are of particular relevance: (1) eutrophication and climate change as key drivers of limnetic communities; (2) increasing homogenisation of limnetic communities across large spatial scales; and (3) the dynamics and effects of invasive species as traced in lake sediment archives. Altogether, this review highlights the potential of sed DNA to draw a more comprehensive picture of the response of lake biota to anthropogenic stressors, opening up new avenues in the field of paleoecology by unrevealing a hidden historical biodiversity, building new paleo‐indicators, and reflecting either taxonomic or functional attributes. Broadly, sed DNA analyses provide new perspectives that can inform ecosystem management, conservation, and restoration by offering an approach to measure ecological integrity and vulnerability, as well as ecosystem functioning.