Innovating aquatic biodiversity monitoring – DNAquaIMG

Biodiversity change in Europe is becoming increasingly no<U+FFFD>ceable, therefore, the research project "DNAquaIMG: Innova<U+FFFD>ve transna<U+FFFD>onal aqua<U+FFFD>c biodiversity monitoring" explores a new perspec<U+FFFD>ve: the interdisciplinary project aims to understand and communicate the far- reaching biodiversity change in Europe in all its complexity. The project is led by Prof. Dr. Florian Leese (University of Duisburg-Essen) and includes an interna<U+FFFD>onal consor<U+FFFD>um of 14 partners from eleven European countries. The researchers will contribute their exper<U+FFFD>se in the development and implementa<U+FFFD>on of high-throughput molecular and automated image recogni<U+FFFD>on methods for biodiversity monitoring in European rivers. The combina<U+FFFD>on of the two complementary approaches o<U+FB00>ers advantages for biodiversity assessment in the context of ecosystem degrada<U+FFFD>on and restora<U+FFFD>on. Similar to DNA <U+FB01>ngerprin<U+FFFD>ng in forensics, gene<U+FFFD>c methods enable accurate detec<U+FFFD>on and descrip<U+FFFD>on of biodiversity, even for microscopic organisms. In contrast, image-based methods can provide reliable data on species abundance, size structure and biomass of organisms. Together, the approaches enable to signi<U+FB01>cantly expand the informa<U+FFFD>on from the data on biodiversity from environmental samples. Currently, water bodies in Europe are assessed using organisms that have o<U+FFFD>en not been iden<U+FFFD><U+FB01>ed to species level. This allows to monitor ecological status of water bodies in a speci<U+FB01>c region, but is not su<U+FB03>cient for a detailed biodiversity monitoring. In order to u<U+FFFD>lise the above-men<U+FFFD>oned new methods for European biodiversity monitoring, DNAquaIMG will evaluate their implementa<U+FFFD>on in the exis<U+FFFD>ng and proven monitoring of water bodies within the framework of the European Water Framework Direc<U+FFFD>ve (EC/2000/60, WFD). In the context of WFD it will be inves<U+FFFD>gated how changes in the gene<U+FFFD>c diversity of iden<U+FFFD><U+FB01>ed communi<U+FFFD>es are related to the func<U+FFFD>onal diversity and ecological status classes of watercourses. Samples of aqua<U+FFFD>c invertebrates and diatoms, two key indicator groups under the WFD, origina<U+FFFD>ng from eight countries will be determined to species level. It will be analysed whether, for example, improvements in the ecological status classes through river restora<U+FFFD>on also result in an increase in biodiversity. Based on the project results, the scien<U+FFFD>sts plan to develop a strategy for improved transna<U+FFFD>onal monitoring of biodiversity and ecosystem change in order to support the implementa<U+FFFD>on of the European Green Deal and the European Biodiversity Strategy.

No additional funding sources recorded.