Using qPCR of environmental DNA (eDNA) to estimate the biomass of juvenile Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.)

During the outmigration of Pacific Salmon, the early marine phase is a critical period when high mortality can occur. Traditional sampling and monitoring of juvenile salmon migration can be limited by logistically intensive gear requirements, accessibility, and cost. Improved understanding of the ea...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental DNA (Hoboken, N.J.) N.J.), 2023-07, Vol.5 (4), p.683-696
Main Authors: Benoit, Natalie P., Robinson, Kristin Meagher, Kellogg, Colleen T. E., Lemay, Matthew A., Hunt, Brian P. V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abundance
Aquariums
Biomass
Cell division
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
Ecosystems
Environmental DNA
Experiments
Fish
Fish migration
Fisheries
Fishing
genetics
Habitat utilization
juvenile outmigration
Juveniles
Monitoring
Pacific salmon
qPCR
Salmon
Salmonids
Seawater
Variance analysis
Water analysis
Water sampling
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:During the outmigration of Pacific Salmon, the early marine phase is a critical period when high mortality can occur. Traditional sampling and monitoring of juvenile salmon migration can be limited by logistically intensive gear requirements, accessibility, and cost. Improved understanding of the early marine phase, for example, migration duration and habitat use, requires innovative techniques that can improve the spatial and temporal coverage of monitoring. Environmental DNA (eDNA) is genetic fragments present in the environment that can be used as a proxy for organism presence and can be effectively and efficiently collected through water samples. Estimating fish abundance or biomass from eDNA concentration data would provide a valuable fisheries tool but remains challenging to calibrate. To quantify the relationship between eDNA abundance and fish biomass, we used a controlled mesocosm experiment, in which eDNA samples were collected from 15 aquaria (340 L) with varying densities of juvenile Chinook salmon per tank (0, 5, 10, 20, and 30). The concentration of eDNA was obtained by qPCR scaled with fish biomass (ANOVA, p 
ISSN:2637-4943
2637-4943
DOI:10.1002/edn3.422