Environmental DNA reveals tropical shark diversity in contrasting levels of anthropogenic impact

Sharks are charismatic predators that play a key role in most marine food webs. Their demonstrated vulnerability to exploitation has recently turned them into flagship species in ocean conservation. Yet, the assessment and monitoring of the distribution and abundance of such mobile species in marine...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports Vol. 7; no. 1; pp. 16886 - 11
Main Authors: Bakker, Judith, Wangensteen, Owen S., Chapman, Demian D., Boussarie, Germain, Buddo, Dayne, Guttridge, Tristan L., Hertler, Heidi, Mouillot, David, Vigliola, Laurent, Mariani, Stefano
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 04.12.2017
Nature Publishing Group
Subjects:
631/158/2452
704/158/672
Abundance
Animal genetics
Animals
Anthropogenic factors
Biodiversity
Biodiversity and Ecology
Caribbean Region
Chemical analysis
Conservation
Conservation of Natural Resources
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic - methods
DNA, Ribosomal - chemistry
DNA, Ribosomal - genetics
DNA, Ribosomal - metabolism
Ecosystem
Ecosystems
Elasmobranchii - classification
Elasmobranchii - genetics
Electron Transport Complex IV - genetics
Environmental DNA
Environmental Sciences
Fishing
Food webs
Gene Library
Genetics
Humanities and Social Sciences
Life Sciences
Marine environment
multidisciplinary
Populations and Evolution
Predators
Principal components analysis
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Seawater
Seawater - chemistry
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Sharks
Species
Taxonomy
Water analysis
Water sampling
Caribbean Region
conservation
ecosystem
management
coral-reef fisheries
wilderness
fish communities
rays
populations
collapse
aquatic biodiversity
ISSN:2045-2322, 2045-2322
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Sharks are charismatic predators that play a key role in most marine food webs. Their demonstrated vulnerability to exploitation has recently turned them into flagship species in ocean conservation. Yet, the assessment and monitoring of the distribution and abundance of such mobile species in marine environments remain challenging, often invasive and resource-intensive. Here we pilot a novel, rapid and non-invasive environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding approach specifically targeted to infer shark presence, diversity and eDNA read abundance in tropical habitats. We identified at least 21 shark species, from both Caribbean and Pacific Coral Sea water samples, whose geographical patterns of diversity and read abundance coincide with geographical differences in levels of anthropogenic pressure and conservation effort. We demonstrate that eDNA metabarcoding can be effectively employed to study shark diversity. Further developments in this field have the potential to drastically enhance our ability to assess and monitor elusive oceanic predators, and lead to improved conservation strategies.
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PMCID: PMC5715122
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-017-17150-2