Including environmental covariates clarifies the relationship between endangered Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) abundance and environmental <scp>DNA</scp>
Abstract Collecting environmental DNA (eDNA) as a nonlethal sampling approach has been valuable in detecting the presence/absence of many imperiled taxa; however, its application to indicate species abundance poses many challenges. A deeper understanding of eDNA dynamics in aquatic systems is requir...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/edn3.424 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/edn3.424 |
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crwiley:10.1002/edn3.424 2024-04-07T07:51:08+00:00 Including environmental covariates clarifies the relationship between endangered Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) abundance and environmental <scp>DNA</scp> Morrison, Melissa K. Lacoursière‐Roussel, Anaïs Wood, Zachary T. Trudel, Marc Gagné, Nellie LeBlanc, Francis Samways, Kurt Kinnison, Michael T. Pavey, Scott A. Canada Foundation for Innovation Canada Research Chairs Fisheries and Oceans Canada Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada New Brunswick Innovation Foundation 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/edn3.424 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/edn3.424 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Environmental DNA volume 5, issue 5, page 987-1003 ISSN 2637-4943 2637-4943 Genetics Ecology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal-article 2023 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/edn3.424 2024-03-08T03:52:58Z Abstract Collecting environmental DNA (eDNA) as a nonlethal sampling approach has been valuable in detecting the presence/absence of many imperiled taxa; however, its application to indicate species abundance poses many challenges. A deeper understanding of eDNA dynamics in aquatic systems is required to better interpret the substantial variability often associated with eDNA samples. Our sampling design took advantage of natural variation in juvenile Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) distribution and abundance along 9 km of a single river in the Province of New Brunswick (Canada), covering different spatial and temporal scales to address the unknown seasonal impacts of environmental variables on the quantitative relationship between eDNA concentration and species abundance. First, we asked whether accounting for environmental variables strengthened the relationship between eDNA and salmon abundance by sampling eDNA during their spring seaward migration. Second, we asked how environmental variables affected eDNA dynamics during the summer as the parr abundance remained relatively constant. Spring eDNA samples were collected over a 6‐week period (12 times) near a rotary screw trap that captured approximately 18.6% of migrating smolts, whereas summer sampling occurred (i) at three distinct salmon habitats (9 times) and (ii) along the full 9 km (3 times). We modeled eDNA concentration as a product of fish abundance and environmental variables, demonstrating that (1) with inclusion of abundance and environmental covariates, eDNA was highly correlated with spring smolt abundance and (2) the relationships among environmental covariates and eDNA were affected by seasonal variation with relatively constant parr abundance in summer. Our findings underscore that with appropriate study design that accounts for seasonal environmental variation and life history phenology, eDNA salmon population assessments may have the potential to evaluate abundance fluctuations in spring and summer. Article in Journal/Newspaper Atlantic salmon Salmo salar Wiley Online Library Canada Environmental DNA |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Wiley Online Library |
op_collection_id |
crwiley |
language |
English |
topic |
Genetics Ecology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
spellingShingle |
Genetics Ecology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Morrison, Melissa K. Lacoursière‐Roussel, Anaïs Wood, Zachary T. Trudel, Marc Gagné, Nellie LeBlanc, Francis Samways, Kurt Kinnison, Michael T. Pavey, Scott A. Including environmental covariates clarifies the relationship between endangered Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) abundance and environmental <scp>DNA</scp> |
topic_facet |
Genetics Ecology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
description |
Abstract Collecting environmental DNA (eDNA) as a nonlethal sampling approach has been valuable in detecting the presence/absence of many imperiled taxa; however, its application to indicate species abundance poses many challenges. A deeper understanding of eDNA dynamics in aquatic systems is required to better interpret the substantial variability often associated with eDNA samples. Our sampling design took advantage of natural variation in juvenile Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) distribution and abundance along 9 km of a single river in the Province of New Brunswick (Canada), covering different spatial and temporal scales to address the unknown seasonal impacts of environmental variables on the quantitative relationship between eDNA concentration and species abundance. First, we asked whether accounting for environmental variables strengthened the relationship between eDNA and salmon abundance by sampling eDNA during their spring seaward migration. Second, we asked how environmental variables affected eDNA dynamics during the summer as the parr abundance remained relatively constant. Spring eDNA samples were collected over a 6‐week period (12 times) near a rotary screw trap that captured approximately 18.6% of migrating smolts, whereas summer sampling occurred (i) at three distinct salmon habitats (9 times) and (ii) along the full 9 km (3 times). We modeled eDNA concentration as a product of fish abundance and environmental variables, demonstrating that (1) with inclusion of abundance and environmental covariates, eDNA was highly correlated with spring smolt abundance and (2) the relationships among environmental covariates and eDNA were affected by seasonal variation with relatively constant parr abundance in summer. Our findings underscore that with appropriate study design that accounts for seasonal environmental variation and life history phenology, eDNA salmon population assessments may have the potential to evaluate abundance fluctuations in spring and summer. |
author2 |
Canada Foundation for Innovation Canada Research Chairs Fisheries and Oceans Canada Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada New Brunswick Innovation Foundation |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Morrison, Melissa K. Lacoursière‐Roussel, Anaïs Wood, Zachary T. Trudel, Marc Gagné, Nellie LeBlanc, Francis Samways, Kurt Kinnison, Michael T. Pavey, Scott A. |
author_facet |
Morrison, Melissa K. Lacoursière‐Roussel, Anaïs Wood, Zachary T. Trudel, Marc Gagné, Nellie LeBlanc, Francis Samways, Kurt Kinnison, Michael T. Pavey, Scott A. |
author_sort |
Morrison, Melissa K. |
title |
Including environmental covariates clarifies the relationship between endangered Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) abundance and environmental <scp>DNA</scp> |
title_short |
Including environmental covariates clarifies the relationship between endangered Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) abundance and environmental <scp>DNA</scp> |
title_full |
Including environmental covariates clarifies the relationship between endangered Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) abundance and environmental <scp>DNA</scp> |
title_fullStr |
Including environmental covariates clarifies the relationship between endangered Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) abundance and environmental <scp>DNA</scp> |
title_full_unstemmed |
Including environmental covariates clarifies the relationship between endangered Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) abundance and environmental <scp>DNA</scp> |
title_sort |
including environmental covariates clarifies the relationship between endangered atlantic salmon ( salmo salar ) abundance and environmental <scp>dna</scp> |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/edn3.424 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/edn3.424 |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
Atlantic salmon Salmo salar |
genre_facet |
Atlantic salmon Salmo salar |
op_source |
Environmental DNA volume 5, issue 5, page 987-1003 ISSN 2637-4943 2637-4943 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/edn3.424 |
container_title |
Environmental DNA |
_version_ |
1795665994573676544 |