TY - JOUR
T1 - Mapping biodiversity hotspots of fish communities in subtropical streams through environmental DNA
AU - Blackman, Rosetta C.
AU - Osathanunkul, Maslin
AU - Brantschen, Jeanine
AU - Di Muri, Cristina
AU - Harper, Lynsey R.
AU - Mächler, Elvira
AU - Hänfling, Bernd
AU - Altermatt, Florian
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank the students in M.O. lab at Chiang Mai University for their assistance with sample collection, Maurice Kottelat for discussions on fish diversity and taxonomy, Rosie Siber for sourcing the map data for the Chao Phraya catchment and mapping the base maps used in this paper, and an anonymous reviewer for comments on the manuscript. F.A is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation Grants No 31003A_173074 and PP00P3_179089, and the University of Zurich Research Priority Programme “URPP Global Change and Biodiversity”. M.O was partially supported by Chiang Mai University.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).
PY - 2021/5/14
Y1 - 2021/5/14
N2 - Large tropical and subtropical rivers are among the most biodiverse ecosystems worldwide, but also suffer from high anthropogenic pressures. These rivers are hitherto subject to little or no routine biomonitoring, which would be essential for identification of conservation areas of high importance. Here, we use a single environmental DNA multi-site sampling campaign across the 200,000 km2 Chao Phraya river basin, Thailand, to provide key information on fish diversity. We found a total of 108 fish taxa and identified key biodiversity patterns within the river network. By using hierarchical clustering, we grouped the fish communities of all sites across the catchment into distinct clusters. The clusters not only accurately matched the topology of the river network, but also revealed distinct groups of sites enabling informed conservation measures. Our study reveals novel opportunities of large-scale monitoring via eDNA to identify relevant areas within whole river catchments for conservation and habitat protection.
AB - Large tropical and subtropical rivers are among the most biodiverse ecosystems worldwide, but also suffer from high anthropogenic pressures. These rivers are hitherto subject to little or no routine biomonitoring, which would be essential for identification of conservation areas of high importance. Here, we use a single environmental DNA multi-site sampling campaign across the 200,000 km2 Chao Phraya river basin, Thailand, to provide key information on fish diversity. We found a total of 108 fish taxa and identified key biodiversity patterns within the river network. By using hierarchical clustering, we grouped the fish communities of all sites across the catchment into distinct clusters. The clusters not only accurately matched the topology of the river network, but also revealed distinct groups of sites enabling informed conservation measures. Our study reveals novel opportunities of large-scale monitoring via eDNA to identify relevant areas within whole river catchments for conservation and habitat protection.
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U2 - 10.1038/s41598-021-89942-6
DO - 10.1038/s41598-021-89942-6
M3 - Article
C2 - 33990677
AN - SCOPUS:85105871713
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 11
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
IS - 1
M1 - 10375
ER -