MetaBridge project: sediment metabarcoding for ecological status prediction at oil&gas installations on the Norwegian shelf
Environmental impact monitoring of the health of marine bottom communities is a regulatory requirement of marine industry operations. Developing eDNA as an alternative or complement to existing methods to examine seafloor sediment communities will increase the cost-effectiveness of marine environmental monitoring, and allow a more complete picture of benthic ecosystems that also include tiny animals and microorganisms, not part of current monitoring. MetaBridge compiles the largest eDNA dataset available to date for oil & gas installations: across ~200 stations sampled on the Norwegian continental shelf we sequenced (Novaseq6000) four genetic markers: mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (“cox1”, “CO1” or “COI”) and three small subunit ribosomal RNA (16SV4V5 and 18SV1V2, 18SV4) markers. We use this metabarcoding data to both calculate standard macrofauna-based biotic indices and to predict ecological status de novo.