ARPHA Conference Abstracts :
Conference Abstract
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Corresponding author: Alexander M. Weigand (alexander.weigand@mnhn.lu)
Received: 23 Feb 2021 | Published: 04 Mar 2021
© 2021 Alexander Weigand
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Weigand AM (2021) (e)DNA-based assessments within one of the World`s largest river survey programs: summarized insights from the 4th Joint Danube Survey. ARPHA Conference Abstracts 4: e64857. https://doi.org/10.3897/aca.4.e64857
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With the 4th Joint Danube Survey in 2019 (JDS4), for the first time, DNA- and environmental DNA-based approaches were integrated into the program of the JDS, focussing on the three biological quality elements of fish, macrozoobenthos and phytobenthos, and additionally on the sediment community (
The target groups were assessed using group-specific (e)DNA-based metabarcoding approaches (for fish:
Although still a certain degree of methodological variation exists, the outcomes clearly demonstrate the huge potential of (e)DNA-based approaches for complementary biodiversity and ecological status class assessments: eDNA water analysis of fish revealed most of the taxa also detected by the traditional fish survey, but was particularly effective in detecting hard-to-capture benthic taxa (including endangered sturgeon species) and fish traces originating from waste water treatment plants (
However, despite their promising performance and large coherence with traditional outcomes during JDS4, the full potential of (e)DNA-based approaches in the context of larger environmental surveys might be further released by
Already today, (e)DNA-based methods can be seen as an effective and complementary tool to provide consolidated results for biodiversity and ecological status class assessments in a highly integrative and international setup, as pursued during JDS4.
JDS4, Water Framework Directive, Biological Quality Elements, Bioassessment, Environmental DNA (eDNA), NemaSPEAR[%] index
Alexander Weigand
1st DNAQUA International Conference (March 9-11, 2021)
All members of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), the JDS4, as well as laboratory and bioinformatic staff members in Austria, Hungary, France, Turkey, Slovakia, Switzerland and Germany, which all were involved in producing the multitude of (e)DNA-based results, are highly acknowledged for their passion and patience in difficult times during the COVID-19 pandemic situation.
Major funding was received from the ICPDR and members of the EU COST Action CA15219 (DNAqua-Net). Environmental DNA analyses of fish were further supported by the INTERREG “MEASURES” program (DTP2-038-2.3), the BOKU University (Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management, Vienna, Austria), the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Regions and Tourism (BMLRT), the ÖK-IAD (Österreichisches Komitee der Internationalen Arbeitsgemeinschaft Donauforschung), Spygen (Le Bourget du Lac, France), and the National Institute for Marine Research and Development “Grigore Antipa” (Constanţa, Romania).