eDNA Substantively Enhances Restoration Monitoring of Fish and Benthic Macroinvertebrates
Robert H. Hilderbrand
Appalachian Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Frostburg, MD
Authors: Hilderbrand, Robert H., Trott, Regina, Richardson, Rodney T., Raines, Clayton, D., and Plough, Louis V.
We assessed the utility of environmental DNA (eDNA) for stream restoration monitoring at 27 restored sites compared against their upstream, unrestored sections. eDNA samples were also compared against the traditional monitoring methods of D-Net sampling for benthic macroinvertebrates and electrofishing for fish at most of these sites.
Including eDNA in restoration monitoring increased the sensitivity of the results and was able to identify positive responses in restored sections that were not evident with traditional methods. This was especially evident for the benthic macroinvertebrates where more sensitive taxa, more EPT taxa, and greater overall taxa richness occurred in the restored sections. Restored sections also had significantly more fish species and sensitive fishes, but eDNA was not as useful because the electrofishing data were adequate to find this pattern. Both the fish and benthic macroinvertebrate communities described by eDNA were significantly different between the restored and control sections, and were different from the communities described by traditional monitoring. This in part is due to the increased taxa richness captured with eDNA.
Compared to traditional monitoring, eDNA identified significantly more taxa and sensitive taxa for both fish and benthic macrionvertebrates. The only attribute explored where eDNA was not equal to or greater for measuring biodiversity were the fish families Cyprinidae (minnows) and Percidae (perch), where electrofishing better sampled the diversity.
While not a complete replacement for traditional sampling methods, including eDNA in stream restoration monitoring has distinct advantages. It is cost effective, easy to collect samples, and tends to better sample the fish and benthic macroinvertebrate biodiversity. We believe it can effectively complement traditional sampling to give a broader and more detailed perspective on aquatic biodiversity.
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