Metazoan diversity and its drivers: an eDNA survey in the Pacific Gateway of a changing Arctic Ocean
We conducted a COI marker-based eDNA survey within the Pacific Gateway, analyzing seawater samples from various depths across the Bering Strait and southeast Chukchi Sea. Our aims were to: (i) characterize the metazoan community across the Pacific Gateway and define indicator species for different areas, (ii) investigate variations in alpha and beta diversity across geographic space, including depth, and (iii) identify the main environmental drivers influencing the observed community composition and diversity. Our findings aim to provide a better understanding on the current biodiversity, in order to facilitate predictions on the impacts of global change on metazoan diversity and community within the Pacific Gateway, as well as to highlight climate change "winners" and "losers" prone to range shifts within the highly changing Arctic Ocean.