ZJ_River_Site Raw sequence reads
This study aims to evaluate the use of environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding for freshwater bioassessment by characterizing aquatic biological communities from river water samples collected across Zhejiang Province, China. Using high-throughput amplicon sequencing, we generated molecular community profiles from environmental water samples and explored their application in predicting established biotic and water quality indices. The project focuses on developing and validating transferable, data-driven analytical frameworks that reduce dependence on complete taxonomic reference databases, thereby improving the robustness and scalability of eDNA-based monitoring. The resulting sequence data and associated metadata provide a valuable resource for advancing molecular ecology methods and supporting reproducible, large-scale biomonitoring applications in freshwater ecosystems.