PAPER: Variability and Uncertainty in eDNA Data

A Systematic Review of Sources of Variability and Uncertainty in eDNA Data for Environmental Monitoring

May 2020

Mathieu C, Hermans SM, Lear G, Buckley TR, Lee KVC, Buckley HL 2020. A Systematic Review of Sources of Variability and Uncertainty in eDNA Data for Environmental Monitoring. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 8(135).

ABSTRACT

Environmental DNA (eDNA) is becoming a standard tool in environmental monitoring that aims to quantify spatiotemporal variation for the measurement and prediction of ecosystem change. eDNA surveys have complex workflows encompassing multiple decision-making steps in which uncertainties can accumulate due to field sampling design, molecular biology lab work, and bioinformatics analyses.

KEYWORDS

bioinformatics; community; edna; experimental design; single taxon; spatiotemporal scale; uncertainty; variability; microbial ecology; occupancy models; DNA extraction; biodiversity; diversity; bacterial; communities; abundance; scale; sensitivity;