Revolutionising Biodiversity Monitoring in Freshwater Ecosystems Using Environmental DNA

Grant number: LP140100731 | Funding period: 2015 - 2017

Completed

Abstract

Australian biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate and freshwater species are particularly at risk. Effective conservation of freshwater biodiversity depends on reliable, accurate and cost-efficient monitoring techniques for assessing species communities and key environmental assets and threats. However, current techniques are inefficient, expensive and highly invasive. This project aims to utilise a novel methodology known as environmental DNA to revolutionise biodiversity surveys in freshwater environments, and aims to lead to a substantial increase in positive conservation outcomes through cost-efficient and accurate assessments of the distributions and abundances of both nativ..

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Related publications (7)

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Multispecies models reveal that eDNA metabarcoding is more sensitive than backpack electrofishing for conducting fish surveys in freshwater streams

EF McColl-Gausden, AR Weeks, RA Coleman, KL Robinson, S Song, TA Raadik, R Tingley

2021-07-01

Environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling can provide accurate, cost-effective, landscape-level data on species distributions. Previous st..

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Accounting for false positive detections in occupancy studies based on environmental DNA: A case study of a threatened freshwater fish (Galaxiella pusilla)

R Tingley, R Coleman, N Gecse, A van Rooyen, A R. Weeks

2021-03-01

Environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling is a promising method for surveying aquatic fauna. Recent eDNA studies have investigated the lik..

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Environmental DNA sampling as a surveillance tool for cane toad Rhinella marina introductions on offshore islands

R Tingley, M Greenlees, S Oertel, AR van Rooyen, AR Weeks

2019-01-15

Containing the spread of established invasive species is critical for minimizing their ecological impact. Effective containment re..

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Optimal survey designs for environmental DNA sampling

WH Lugg, J Griffiths, AR van Rooyen, AR Weeks, R Tingley

2018-04-01

Environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling is a promising tool for monitoring cryptic species. Numerous studies have demonstrated that eDNA..

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Dealing with false-positive and false-negative errors about species occurrence at multiple levels

Gurutzeta Guillera-Arroita, Jose Joaquin Lahoz-Monfort, Anthony R van Rooyen, Andrew R Weeks, Reid Tingley

2017-09-01

Summary 1. Accurate knowledge of species occurrence is fundamental to a wide variety of ecological, evolutionary and conservation ..

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Assessing the cost-efficiency of environmental DNA sampling

AS Smart, AR Weeks, AR van Rooyen, A Moore, MA McCarthy, R Tingley

2016-11-01

Environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling can be a highly sensitive method for detecting aquatic taxa; however, the cost-efficiency of thi..

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Statistical approaches to account for false-positive errors in environmental DNA samples

JJ Lahoz-Monfort, G Guillera-Arroita, R Tingley

2016-05-01

Environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling is prone to both false-positive and false-negative errors. We review statistical methods to acco..

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