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Marine eDNA production and loss mechanisms
  • +7
  • Elizabeth Brasseale,
  • Nicolaus G. Adams,
  • Elizabeth Allan,
  • Eiren K Jacobson,
  • Ryan P Kelly,
  • Owen R. Liu,
  • Stephanie Moore,
  • Megan Shaffer,
  • Jilian Xiong,
  • Kim Parsons
Elizabeth Brasseale
University of Washington

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Nicolaus G. Adams
Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NOAA)
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Elizabeth Allan
University of Washington
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Eiren K Jacobson
University of St Andrews
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Ryan P Kelly
University of Washington
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Owen R. Liu
Conservation Biology Division, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, 6 7 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
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Stephanie Moore
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
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Megan Shaffer
University of Washington
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Jilian Xiong
University of Washington
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Kim Parsons
Conservation Biology Division, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, 6 7 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
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Abstract

Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis is a technique for detecting organisms based on genetic material in environments such as air, water, or soil. Observed eDNA concentrations vary in space and time due to biological and environmental processes. Here we investigate variability in eDNA production and loss by sampling water adjacent to a managed population of non-native cetaceans on a near-hourly timescale for 48 hours. We used diverse sampling approaches and modeling methods to describe time variability in observed eDNA concentrations and then compare the magnitude of production and loss mechanisms. We parsed production and loss in a Bayesian process model, and compared biological and physical loss rates using a decay experiment and a physical transport-and-diffusion tracer model. We then evaluated eDNA concentrations along a transect away from the animal enclosure in light of model parameter estimates. We conclude that eDNA production is best conceptualized using a time-varying mixed-state model and biological losses are small relative to physical losses in the marine environment. Because physical loss is unsteady and nonlinear, tracer models are especially helpful tools to estimate it accurately.
31 Jul 2024Submitted to ESS Open Archive
31 Jul 2024Published in ESS Open Archive