Dominic Muenzel, Alessia Bani, Maarten De Brauwer, Eleanor Stewart, Cilun Djakiman, Halwi, Ray Purnama, Syafyuddin Yusuf, Prakas Santoso, Frensly D Hukom, Matthew Struebig, Jamaluddin Jompa, Gino Limmon, Alex Dumbrell, Maria Beger
Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding has the potential to revolutionize conservation planning by providing spatially and taxonomically comprehensive data on biodiversity and ecosystem conditions, but its utility to inform the design of protected areas remains untested. Here, we quantify whether and how identifying conservation priority areas within coral reef ecosystems differs when biodiversity information is collected via eDNA analyses or traditional visual census records. We focus on 147 coral reefs in Indonesia's hyper-diverse Wallacea region and show large discrepancies in the allocation and spatial design of conservation priority areas when coral reef species were surveyed with underwater visual techniques (fishes, corals, and algae) or eDNA metabarcoding (eukaryotes and metazoans)...
April 23, 2024: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America