A new methodology using environmental DNA (eDNA) for efficient and accurate investigations is emerging in the field of species survey as the demands of the times for biodiversity conservation continue. We can use environmental DNA for biological detection using the properties that environmental DNA preserve traces about one week in underwater condition. Conventional field species surveys have several limits associated with uncertainty, cost and human resources, and the survey using environmental DNA technique overcomes these limitations. In South Korea, however, the application of technique to the domestic cases has not been studied yet. We aimed to the possibility in identifying species composition of fish communities using the environmental DNA metabarcoding technique, from both of the technical introduction and the pilot test in urban ecological streams. We used this technique for identifying fish species at 13 survey points of 4 stream in Suwon City. The research proceeded in the order of water sample filtering, extraction of environmental DNA, and molecular biology experiments. Finally, the results were verified by comparing with the monitoring survey report data.
Results/Conclusions
As a result, the number of species detected by environmental DNA sampled once in July was consistent with 63% of the species observed in the traditional survey in July of the previous year. Additionally, the environmental DNA survey detected more species than traditional survey at all survey points. Environmental DNA results indicated the presence possibility of the unobserved species in conventional survey last year, even though the validation may be required. Environmental DNA survey techniques need to be developed continuously because they can detect the presence of various target species in a small amount of water samples, effectively addressing the problems of existing aquatic ecosystem surveys, while being applicable to a variety of fields and species situation. We summarized the pros and cons of the application of environmental DNA technique and suggest the research directions in future.
This work was conducted with the support of the Korea Environment Industry & Technology Institute (KEITI) through its Urban Ecological Health Promotion Technology Development Project and funded by the Korea Ministry of Environment (MOE) (2019002760001)