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Environmental DNA reveals a multi-taxa biogeographic break across the Arabian Sea and Sea of Oman

Citation

DiBattista, JD and Berumen, ML and Priest, MA and De Brauwer, M and Coker, DJ and Sinclair-Taylor, TH and Hay, A and Bruss, G and Mansour, S and Bunce, M and Goatley, CHR and Power, M and Marshell, A, Environmental DNA reveals a multi-taxa biogeographic break across the Arabian Sea and Sea of Oman, Environmental DNA, 4, (1) pp. 206-221. ISSN 2637-4943 (2022) [Refereed Article]


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Copyright Statement

© 2021 The Authors. Environmental DNA published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

DOI: doi:10.1002/edn3.252

Abstract

Environmental DNA (eDNA) is increasingly being used to assess community composition in marine ecosystems. Applying eDNA approaches across broad spatial scales now provide the potential to inform biogeographic analyses. However, to date, few studies have employed this technique to assess broad biogeographic patterns across multiple taxonomic groups. Here, we compare eDNA-derived communities of bony fishes and invertebrates, including corals and sponges, from 15 locations spanning the entire length of the Omani coast. This survey includes a variety of habitats, including coral and rocky reefs, and covers three distinct marine ecoregions. Our data support a known biogeographic break in fish communities between the north and the south of Oman; however, the eDNA data highlight that this faunal break is mostly reflected in schooling baitfish species (e.g., sardines and anchovies), whereas reef-associated fish communities appear more homogeneous along this coastline. Furthermore, our data provide indications that these biogeographic breaks also affect invertebrate communities, which includes corals, sponges, and broader eukaryotic groups. The observed community shifts were correlated with local environmental and anthropogenic differences characteristic of this coastline, particularly for the eDNA-derived bony fish communities. Overall, this study provides compelling support that eDNA sequencing and associated analyses may serve as powerful tools to detect community differences across biogeographic breaks and ecoregions, particularly in places where there is significant variation in oceanographic conditions or anthropogenic impacts.

Item Details

Item Type:Refereed Article
Keywords:biodiversity, environmental DNA, genomics, habitats, Oman, metabarcoding
Research Division:Biological Sciences
Research Group:Genetics
Research Field:Genomics
Objective Division:Environmental Management
Objective Group:Marine systems and management
Objective Field:Marine biodiversity
UTAS Author:Marshell, A (Dr Alyssa Marshell)
ID Code:148928
Year Published:2022
Deposited By:Sustainable Marine Research Collaboration
Deposited On:2022-02-22
Last Modified:2022-03-10
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