Large-Scale Biomonitoring of Remote and Threatened Ecosystems via High-Throughput Sequencing.
Biodiversity metrics are critical for assessment and monitoring of ecosystems threatened by anthropogenic stressors. Existing sorting and identification methods are too expensive and labour-intensive to be scaled up to meet management needs. Alternately, a high-throughput DNA sequencing approach could be used to determine biodiversity metrics from bulk environmental samples collected as part of a large-scale biomonitoring program. Here we show that both morphological and DNA sequence-based analyses are suitable for recovery of individual taxonomic richness, estimation of proportional abundance, and calculation of biodiversity metrics using a set of 24 benthic samples collected in the Peace-Athabasca Delta region of Canada. The high-throughput sequencing approach was able to recover all metrics with a higher degree of taxonomic resolution than morphological analysis. The reduced cost and increased capacity of DNA sequence-based approaches will finally allow environmental monitoring programs to operate at the geographical and temporal scale required by industrial and regulatory end-users.
Biodiversity Institute of Ontario and Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada; Environment Canada, Canada Centre for Inland Waters, Burlington, Ontario, Canada.
Joel F
JF
Gibson
Biodiversity Institute of Ontario and Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Shadi
S
Shokralla
Environment Canada, Canadian Rivers Institute, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.
Colin
C
Curry
Environment Canada, Canadian Rivers Institute, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.
Donald J
DJ
Baird
Canadian Rivers Institute, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.
Wendy A
WA
Monk
Biodiversity Institute of Ontario and Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Ian
I
King
Biodiversity Institute of Ontario and Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Mehrdad
M
Hajibabaei
D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D058893:DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005618:Fresh Water; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing / Q000379:methods*; D007448:Invertebrates / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D058998:Remote Sensing Technology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000379:methods*