Environmental DNA: The First Snapshot of the Vertebrate Biodiversity in Three Sicilian Lakes

Freshwater ecosystems play a key role in global diversity and are subject to a series of anthropic impacts, often leading to biodiversity loss. The organisms inhabiting these sites continuously release DNA into the environment through cells, excrement, gametes and/or decomposing matter; thus, evalua...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inAnimals (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 23; p. 3687
Main Authors Mauro, Manuela, Lo Valvo, Mario, Vazzana, Mirella, Radovic, Slobodanka, Vizzini, Aiti, Badalamenti, Rosario, Hornsby, Lucie Branwen, Arizza, Vincenzo
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland MDPI AG 28.11.2023
Subjects
Altitude
Analysis
Aquatic ecosystems
Biodiversity
Biological diversity
Climate change
DNA
DNA barcoding
Ecology
ecosystems
eDNA
environmental DNA
excreta
Fresh water
freshwater
freshwater environment
freshwater vertebrates
Lakes
monitoring
terrestrial vertebrates
vertebrates
United States > US
Italy
freshwater vertebrates
terrestrial vertebrates
eDNA
monitoring
freshwater environment
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Freshwater ecosystems play a key role in global diversity and are subject to a series of anthropic impacts, often leading to biodiversity loss. The organisms inhabiting these sites continuously release DNA into the environment through cells, excrement, gametes and/or decomposing matter; thus, evaluation of this eDNA could revolutionize the monitoring of biodiversity. In this study, environmental DNA metabarcoding was used for the first time in three Sicilian lakes: Lake Poma, Piana degli Albanesi Lake and Lake Scanzano. Results obtained provide the first snapshot of vertebrate biodiversity in these three lakes, where little is known, to provide valuable information useful for creating a baseline of knowledge regarding the biodiversity in these three lakes. Another important result was the detection of marine species, most likely due to some kind of anthropogenic contamination. Environmental DNA is a useful tool to evaluate both biodiversity and the ecological status of the environment; it has the potential to complement traditional methods, and the use of both approaches may offer a more comprehensive understanding of the ecosystem.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
content type line 23
ISSN:2076-2615
2076-2615
DOI:10.3390/ani13233687