The importance of including imperfect detection models in eDNA experimental design
Environmental DNA (eDNA) is DNA that has been isolated from field samples, and it is increasingly used to infer the presence or absence of particular species in an ecosystem. However, the combination of sampling procedures and subsequent molecular amplification of eDNA can lead to spurious results....
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Published in | Molecular ecology resources Vol. 16; no. 4; pp. 837 - 844 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
England
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
01.07.2016
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Environmental DNA (eDNA) is DNA that has been isolated from field samples, and it is increasingly used to infer the presence or absence of particular species in an ecosystem. However, the combination of sampling procedures and subsequent molecular amplification of eDNA can lead to spurious results. As such, it is imperative that eDNA studies include a statistical framework for interpreting eDNA presence/absence data. We reviewed published literature for studies that utilized eDNA where the species density was known and compared the probability of detecting the focal species to the sampling and analysis protocols. Although biomass of the target species and the volume per sample did not impact detectability, the number of field replicates and number of samples from each replicate were positively related to detection. Additionally, increased number of PCR replicates and increased primer specificity significantly increased detectability. Accordingly, we advocate for increased use of occupancy modelling as a method to incorporate effects of sampling effort and PCR sensitivity in eDNA study design. Based on simulation results and the hierarchical nature of occupancy models, we suggest that field replicates, as opposed to molecular replicates, result in better detection probabilities of target species. |
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Bibliography: | Table S1 Summary of data collected from eDNA studies used in quantitative analysis.Appendix S1 R scripts used to estimate probabilty of detection. ArticleID:MEN12531 istex:1FF151149B999ECB8A5951A55321E1FCECFE2C0C ark:/67375/WNG-7DCJ04DJ-G NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant - No. 1407021 ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 1755-098X 1755-0998 |
DOI: | 10.1111/1755-0998.12531 |