2019
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About the document
In this project, environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding was implemented to demonstrate the application of eDNA as a complementary monitoring technique, and compare to conventional fish monitoring techniques undertaken as part of long-term intervention monitoring and short-term intervention monitoring programs in the Lachlan River. The main objective of the project was to compare eDNA results with the fish community monitoring in terms of species richness and measures of fish abundance and to evaluate the potential of eDNA monitoring to enhance understanding of the contribution of environmental water to the fish community.
Key findings include:
- The integration of eDNA metabarcoding in the 2019 monitoring resulted in more robust species richness data for the lower Lachlan River through the detection of freshwater catfish and silver perch.
- eDNA metabarcoding has the capacity to improve the accuracy of the evaluations pertaining to native fish populations and survival in the Lachlan system, and therefore can aid in answering the questions related to CEW’s contribution to native fish populations.
- However, there is important information such as fish recruitment, sizes and age class that currently can only be gained through conventional monitoring. Hence, eDNA-based monitoring alone has limited capacity to answer CEW’s contribution towards native fish resilience and survival. It is, however, powerful when used in combination with other survey methods as a means to improve detection rates and enhance confidence in the monitoring results.