Estimation of Fish Biomass Using Environmental DNA

By T. Takahara, Toshifumi Minamoto, H. Yamanaka, Hideyuki Doi, Z. Kawabata. PLoS ONE, 2012

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Environmental DNA (eDNA) from aquatic vertebrates has recently been used to estimate the presence of a species. We hypothesized that fish release DNA into the water at a rate commensurate with their biomass. Thus, the concentration of eDNA of a target species may be used to estimate the species biomass. We developed an eDNA method to estimate the biomass of common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) using laboratory and field experiments. In the aquarium, the concentration of eDNA changed initially, but reached an equilibrium after 6 days. Temperature had no effect on eDNA concentrations in aquaria. The concentration of eDNA was positively correlated with carp biomass in both aquaria and experimental ponds. We used this method to estimate the biomass and distribution of carp in a natural freshwater lagoon. We demonstrated that the distribution of carp eDNA concentration was explained by water temperature. Our results suggest that biomass data estimated from eDNA concentration reflects the potential distribution of common carp in the natural environment. Measuring eDNA concentration offers a non-invasive, simple, and rapid method for estimating biomass. This method could inform management plans for the conservation of ecosystems.

Subfields: Ecology, Molecular Biology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/7338a55b407efd9c2ff526fce19e9c892232e726

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Citations in the corpus

Meta‐analysis supports further refinement of eDNA for monitoring aquatic species‐specific abundance in nature (2019, methodology): “…strong correlations between eDNA quantity and species‐specific density or biomass have been done in controlled laboratory con‐ ditions (e.g., Takahara et al., 2012, Doi et al., 2015, Lacoursière‐ Roussel, Rosabal, & Bernatchez, 2016) where it is possible to control for the myriad of…”
Stock assessment in inland fisheries: a foundation for sustainable use and conservation (2016, methodology): “For example, Takahara et al. (2012) revealed that the concentration of eDNA was positively correlated with common carp biomass in controlled laboratory environments and experimental ponds.”
An environmental DNA‐based method for monitoring spawning activity: a case study, using the endangered Macquarie perch (Macquaria australasica) (2017, background): “Due to the correlation between mt-eDNA abundance and species biomass, an increase in mt-eDNA concentrations during the spawning season might be due to the formation of spawning aggregations (Takahara et al. 2012; Lacoursi ere-Roussel et al. 2015; Yamamoto et al. 2016).”
Trawl and eDNA assessment of marine fish diversity, seasonality, and relative abundance in coastal New Jersey, USA (2021, background): “Mesocosm and freshwater studies in lentic environments demonstrate potential for reliable assessment (Takahara et al., 2012; Evans et al., 2016; Spear et al., 2020).”
REVIEW: The detection of aquatic animal species using environmental DNA – a review of eDNA as a survey tool in ecology (2014, methodology): “Thomsen et al. (2012a) also subjected seawater samples to NGS using two generic primer sets for Fish.”
Detection of Asian carp DNA as part of a Great Lakes basin-wide surveillance program (2013, background): “Growing evidence correlates the presence of eDNA to an organism's abundance or biomass (Takahara et al. 2012).”
Environmental DNA surveillance for invertebrate species: advantages and technical limitations to detect invasive crayfish Procambarus clarkii in freshwater ponds. (2014, background): “Recently, quantitative molecular approaches succeeded in estimating population abundances in controlled experiments as well as in the field (Takahara et al. 2012; Thomsen et al. 2012a; Pilliod et al. 2013a).”
Estimating occupancy and abundance of stream amphibians using environmental DNA from filtered water samples (2013, background): “2012), while implementation of quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) methodologies has revealed that eDNA concentration in water samples was related to the biomass of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) in artificial ponds (Takahara et al. 2012) and density of common spadefoot toads (Pelobates fus”
Quantitative monitoring of multispecies fish environmental DNA using high-throughput sequencing (2017, methodology): “Because eDNA copy numbers may be a rough index for fish biomass/abundance [11], such a multispecies quantitative time series, which can readily be obtained if the qMiSeq method is used, may provide valuable information about the dynamics of fish populations in the sampling area.”
Environmental DNA as a new method for early detection of New Zealand mudsnails (Potamopyrgus antipodarum) (2013, background): “A relationship between eDNA detected and population density has also been found for amphibians and biomass of fish in aquaria and ponds (Takahara et al. 2012, Thomsen et al. 2012).”
A simple method for preserving environmental DNA in water samples at ambient temperature by addition of cationic surfactant (2017, methodology): “2011; Keskin 2014; Yamanaka and Minamoto 2016) and in some cases to estimate the biomass or abundance (Takahara et al. 2012; Klymus et al. 2015; Lacoursière-Roussel et al. 2016).”