Environmental DNA complements scientific trawling in surveys of marine fish biodiversity ...

• Main Authors: Veron, Pierre, Rozanski, Romane, Marques, Virginie, Joost, Stéphane, Deschez, Marie Emilie, Trenkel, Verena M., Lorance, Pascal, Valentini, Alice, Polanco F., Andrea, Pellissier, Loïc, Eme, David, Albouy, Camille
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: ETH Zurich 2023
• Subjects: Actinopterygii; Bay of Biscay; beta-diversity; Chondrichthyes; functional diversity; metabarcoding; phylogenetic diversity; taxonomic diversity; Northeast Atlantic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000634352; http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/634352

Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding is a method to detect taxa from environmental samples. It is increasingly used for marine biodiversity surveys. As it only requires water collection, eDNA metabarcoding is less invasive than scientific trawling and might be more cost effective. Here, we analysed data from both sampling methods applied in the same scientific survey targeting Northeast Atlantic fish in the Bay of Biscay. We compared the methods regarding the distribution of taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity. We found that eDNA captured more taxonomic and phylogenetic richness than bottom trawling and more functional richness at the local scale. eDNA was less selective than trawling and detected species in local communities spanning larger phylogenetic and functional breadths, especially as it detected large pelagic species that escaped the trawl, even though trawling detected more flat fish. eDNA indicated differences in fish community composition that were comparable to those based on ... : ICES Journal of Marine Science, 80 (8) ...