Abstract
Multiple studies have demonstrated environmental (e)DNA detections of rare and invasive species. However, invasive species managers struggle with using eDNA results because detections might not indicate species presence. We evaluated whether eDNA methods have matured to a point where they can be widely applied to aquatic invasive species management. We have found that eDNA methods meet legal standards for being admissible as evidence in most courts, suggesting eDNA method reliability is not the problem. Rather, we suggest the interface between results and management needs attention since there are few tools for integrating uncertainty into decision-making. Solutions include decision-support trees based on molecular best practices that integrate the temporal and spatial trends in eDNA positives relative to human risk tolerance.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 668-678 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Trends in Ecology and Evolution |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Aug 2020 |
Funding
We thank members of the Western Regional Panel’s eDNA subcommittee for discussion and T. Woolf, K. Dunker, and L. Elwell for reviewing manuscript drafts. C.L.J. was supported by NASA ’s Biodiversity and Ecological Forecasting Program (Grant NNX14AR62A ), BOEM’s Environmental Studies Program (BOEM Agreement MC15AC00006 ), NOAA’s support of the Santa Barbara Channel Marine Biodiversity Observation Network, and USAID (AID-OAA-A-16-00057). G.L was supported in part from a NASA grant. We thank multiple reviewers for improvements to this manuscript. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. We thank members of the Western Regional Panel's eDNA subcommittee for discussion and T. Woolf, K. Dunker, and L. Elwell for reviewing manuscript drafts. C.L.J. was supported by NASA's Biodiversity and Ecological Forecasting Program (Grant NNX14AR62A), BOEM's Environmental Studies Program (BOEM Agreement MC15AC00006), NOAA's support of the Santa Barbara Channel Marine Biodiversity Observation Network, and USAID (AID-OAA-A-16-00057). G.L was supported in part from a NASA grant. We thank multiple reviewers for improvements to this manuscript. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | NNX14AR62A, MC15AC00006 |
| United States Agency for International Development | AID-OAA-A-16-00057 |
Keywords
- decision-support tree
- eDNA
- genetic monitoring
- invasive species surveillance
- nonnative nonindigenous species
- risk tolerance
- uncertainty