EARLY HEARING DETECTION AND INTERVENTION VIRTUAL CONFERENCE
MARCH 2-5, 2021

(Virtually the same conference, without elevators, airplane tickets, or hotel room keys)

5/22/2018 | 9:00 AM - 9:15 AM | BIOMONITORING 2.0: FROM POTENTIAL TO PRACTICE | 420 B

BIOMONITORING 2.0: FROM POTENTIAL TO PRACTICE

Traditional morphology-based identification is a slow, often inaccurate process, focused on restricted groups of organisms, which can lead to incomplete and highly-limited observations of local biodiversity. The advent of high-throughput sequencing approaches such as DNA metabarcoding provide an opportunity to overcome such bottlenecks and develop more universal, complete, diagnostic assessment frameworks. In 2016, Environment and Climate Change Canada, in collaboration with other federal departments, initiated the GRDI project to accelerate the incorporation of DNA metabarcoding methods for ecosystem monitoring. We present the initial results from three studies, including a comparison of metabarcoding with traditional biomonitoring surveys in Atlantic Canada, an ongoing experimental study of agricultural land-use change in an eastern Ontario watershed, and a long-term study on oil sand extraction impacts on wetlands in northern Alberta. We demonstrate how the sensitivity of DNA improves our power to detect change; as well as where caution should be exercised. Based on recent research, and our experience implementing large-scale DNA monitoring programs, we comment on the challenges, opportunities, and pitfalls associated with a transition towards a new model for ecosystem assessment; “Biomonitoring 2.0”.

Bioassessment
Invertebrate
Metagenomics

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Presenters/Authors

Alex Bush (), Environment and Climate Change Canada, abush@unb.ca;