Combining environmental DNA and visual surveys can inform conservation planning for coral reefs

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Muenzel, Dominic; Bani, Alessia; De Brauwer, Maarten; Stewart, Eleanor; Djakiman, Cilun; Halwi; Purnama, Ray; Yusuf, Syafyuddin; Santoso, Prakas; Hukom, Frensly D.; Struebig, Matthew; Jompa, Jamaluddin; Limmon, Gino; Dumbrell, Alex; Beger, Maria
• 署名单位: University of Leeds; University of Kent; University of Essex; University of Derby; Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO); Universitas Pattimura; Universitas Hasanuddin; Universitas Hasanuddin; Bogor Agricultural University; Universitas Pattimura; University of Queensland
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-11173
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2307214121
• 发表日期: 2024-04-23
• 关键词: species distribution models; fish; biodiversity; prediction; number; edna; tool

摘要

Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding has the potential to revolutionize conservation planning by providing spatially and taxonomically comprehensive data on biodiversity and ecosystem conditions, but its utility to inform the design of protected areas remains untested. Here, we quantify whether and how identifying conservation priority areas within coral reef ecosystems differs when biodiversity information is collected via eDNA analyses or traditional visual census records. We focus on 147 coral reefs in Indonesia's hyper - diverse Wallacea region and show large discrepancies in the allocation and spatial design of conservation priority areas when coral reef species were surveyed with underwater visual techniques (fishes, corals, and algae) or eDNA metabarcoding (eukaryotes and metazoans). Specifically, incidental protection occurred for 55% of eDNA species when targets were set for species detected by visual surveys and 71% vice versa. This finding is supported by generally low overlap in detection between visual census and eDNA methods at species level, with more overlap at higher taxonomic ranks. Incomplete taxonomic reference databases for the highly diverse Wallacea reefs, and the complementary detection of species by the two methods, underscore the current need to combine different biodiversity data sources to maximize species representation in conservation planning.