Multi-marker metabarcoding resolves subtle variations in freshwater condition: Bioindicators, ecological traits, and trophic interactions
Freshwater systems are experiencing rapid biodiversity losses resulting from high rates of habitat degradation. Ecological condition is typically determined through identifying either macroinvertebrate or diatom bioindicator assemblages and comparing them to their known tolerance to stressors. These...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Ecological Indicators |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X22010767 |
| _version_ | 1811314728138440704 |
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| author | Chloe Victoria Robinson Teresita M. Porter Victoria Carley Maitland Michael T.G. Wright Mehrdad Hajibabaei |
| author_facet | Chloe Victoria Robinson Teresita M. Porter Victoria Carley Maitland Michael T.G. Wright Mehrdad Hajibabaei |
| author_sort | Chloe Victoria Robinson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Freshwater systems are experiencing rapid biodiversity losses resulting from high rates of habitat degradation. Ecological condition is typically determined through identifying either macroinvertebrate or diatom bioindicator assemblages and comparing them to their known tolerance to stressors. These comparisons are typically conducted at family or genus levels depending on the availability of taxonomic keys and expertise for focal groups. The objective of this study was to test whether a more taxonomically comprehensive assessment of communities in benthic samples can provide a different perspective of ecological conditions. DNA metabarcoding was used to identify macroinvertebrates and diatoms from kick-net samples collected from sites with different habitat status. Sites with ‘good’ condition were associated with higher beta diversity as well as slightly higher directed connectance and modularity indicating higher resilience compared with ‘fair’ condition sites. Indicator value and correlation analyses used DNA metabarcoding data to detect 29 site condition indicator species consistent with known bioindicators and expected relative tolerances. DNA metabarcoding and trophic network analysis also recovered 11 keystone taxa. This study demonstrates the importance of taxonomic breadth across trophic levels for generating biotic data to study ecosystem status, with the potential to scale-up ecological assessments of freshwater condition, trophic stability, and resilience. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T11:17:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-692f7f3fe96f475292b5870bb51bf5d5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1470-160X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T11:17:37Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecological Indicators |
| spelling | doaj.art-692f7f3fe96f475292b5870bb51bf5d52022-12-22T02:48:55ZengElsevierEcological Indicators1470-160X2022-12-01145109603Multi-marker metabarcoding resolves subtle variations in freshwater condition: Bioindicators, ecological traits, and trophic interactionsChloe Victoria Robinson0Teresita M. Porter1Victoria Carley Maitland2Michael T.G. Wright3Mehrdad Hajibabaei4Centre for Biodiversity Genomics & Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, CanadaCentre for Biodiversity Genomics & Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, CanadaCentre for Biodiversity Genomics & Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, CanadaCentre for Biodiversity Genomics & Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, CanadaCentre for Biodiversity Genomics & Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada; Corresponding author.Freshwater systems are experiencing rapid biodiversity losses resulting from high rates of habitat degradation. Ecological condition is typically determined through identifying either macroinvertebrate or diatom bioindicator assemblages and comparing them to their known tolerance to stressors. These comparisons are typically conducted at family or genus levels depending on the availability of taxonomic keys and expertise for focal groups. The objective of this study was to test whether a more taxonomically comprehensive assessment of communities in benthic samples can provide a different perspective of ecological conditions. DNA metabarcoding was used to identify macroinvertebrates and diatoms from kick-net samples collected from sites with different habitat status. Sites with ‘good’ condition were associated with higher beta diversity as well as slightly higher directed connectance and modularity indicating higher resilience compared with ‘fair’ condition sites. Indicator value and correlation analyses used DNA metabarcoding data to detect 29 site condition indicator species consistent with known bioindicators and expected relative tolerances. DNA metabarcoding and trophic network analysis also recovered 11 keystone taxa. This study demonstrates the importance of taxonomic breadth across trophic levels for generating biotic data to study ecosystem status, with the potential to scale-up ecological assessments of freshwater condition, trophic stability, and resilience.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X22010767BiomonitoringDNA metabarcodingBioindicatorsWater qualityFood websBenthos |
| spellingShingle | Chloe Victoria Robinson Teresita M. Porter Victoria Carley Maitland Michael T.G. Wright Mehrdad Hajibabaei Multi-marker metabarcoding resolves subtle variations in freshwater condition: Bioindicators, ecological traits, and trophic interactions Ecological Indicators Biomonitoring DNA metabarcoding Bioindicators Water quality Food webs Benthos |
| title | Multi-marker metabarcoding resolves subtle variations in freshwater condition: Bioindicators, ecological traits, and trophic interactions |
| title_full | Multi-marker metabarcoding resolves subtle variations in freshwater condition: Bioindicators, ecological traits, and trophic interactions |
| title_fullStr | Multi-marker metabarcoding resolves subtle variations in freshwater condition: Bioindicators, ecological traits, and trophic interactions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Multi-marker metabarcoding resolves subtle variations in freshwater condition: Bioindicators, ecological traits, and trophic interactions |
| title_short | Multi-marker metabarcoding resolves subtle variations in freshwater condition: Bioindicators, ecological traits, and trophic interactions |
| title_sort | multi marker metabarcoding resolves subtle variations in freshwater condition bioindicators ecological traits and trophic interactions |
| topic | Biomonitoring DNA metabarcoding Bioindicators Water quality Food webs Benthos |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X22010767 |
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