At Palmyra Atoll,the fish-community environmental DNA signal changes across habitats but not with tides |
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| Authors: | Kevin D Lafferty Ana E Garcia-Vedrenne John P McLaughlin Jasmine N Childress Marisa F Morse Christopher L Jerde |
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| Institution: | 1. Western Ecological Research Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia, USA;2. Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA;3. Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA;4. Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA |
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| Abstract: | At Palmyra Atoll, the environmental DNA (eDNA) signal on tidal sand flats was associated with fish biomass density and captured 98%–100% of the expected species diversity there. Although eDNA spilled over across habitats, species associated with reef habitat contributed more eDNA to reef sites than to sand-flat sites, and species associated with sand-flat habitat contributed more eDNA to sand-flat sites than to reef sites. Tides did not disrupt the sand-flat habitat signal. At least 25 samples give a coverage >97.5% at this diverse, tropical, marine system. |
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| Keywords: | coral reef environmental DNA intertidal Line Islands Palmyra Atoll species richness |
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