Stream sleuths: using fish eDNA to determine shared catchment actions

河流侦探：使用鱼类 eDNA 确定共享流域行动

• 批准号: BB/T019298/1
• 负责人: Rosemary Hails
• 金额: $ 2.55万
• 依托单位: National Trust
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2020 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FT019298%2F1
• 关键词: Stream; sleuths; using; fish; eDNA

The project aims to unlock two significant but untapped resources for citizen science: the use of environmental DNA to detect species and the capacity of the National Trust (NT) as a major landowning and volunteering organisation. We propose a scoping study and co-designed pilot to bring these together. Environmental DNA (eDNA) are traces of DNA released into the environment by species. Sources of eDNA include secreted faeces, mucous, gametes, shed skin, hair and carcasses and these can be detected in samples of water or soil. The potential for eDNA to transform species recording and open it up to people with few or no traditional species identification skills is huge. So far, the most developed application is for fish and amphibians in aquatic environments where a simple water sample can be analysed to produce a list of species present and even provide some indication of relative proportions of different species. Initial work suggests non-specialists (anglers and schoolchildren) can collect adequate (uncontaminated) water samples that provide robust data of which species are present in a waterbody. There is an opportunity to get interested communities collecting information on what lives in their local river, lakes or pond in a way that was hitherto impossible (due to complicated and expensive survey methods or lack of species identification skills). We believe that being able to collect these data will enthuse people to find out more about the health of their local waters leading to further action either in getting more involved in data collection or in tackling issues to improve freshwaters. The use of an exciting and novel scientific tool could open up a pathway of engagement and direct action. By involving volunteers in the decision-making process and supporting them to identify local need, we believe participants will develop the confidence to share their skills with others. The National Trust is public-facing IRO and charity as well as large landowner (250,000ha) with ambitions to transform our land to be better for wildlife and to provide a wide range benefits of benefits to society. With 5.5million members and more than 60,000 volunteers the potential to reach and engage a large community with this work is considerable. Partnership working, and public engagement are embedded strongly across the NT's overall research programme. One of the NT's challenges is to monitor the effectiveness of the changes we are making across our estate but also to ensure that our monitoring effort plays a part in a wider UK network tracking the health of our landscapes. We strongly believe that citizen science, capitalising on our member, volunteer and visitor assets, could play an important role in this respect. Through this project we will bring together NT researchers, leading UK freshwater and eDNA scientists, citizen science specialists and a group of NT volunteers to explore the state of the art in terms of eDNA monitoring for freshwaters. Through a workshop and co-design process we will: Generate a series of recommendations for the development of a UK-wide citizen science project based on eDNA in freshwaters Develop and implement a co-designed pilot to test citizen science collection of eDNA species data (fish and amphibians) in a catchment where NT are leading a partnership project to improve and restore the freshwater environment (Upper Bure, Norfolk) Review lessons learned from the pilot to inform further development of eDNA based citizen science The project will lead directly to the development of a future funding bid for a national scale eDNA based citizen science research project.

该项目旨在为公民科学释放两项重要但尚未开发的资源：利用环境 DNA 来检测物种以及国家信托基金 (NT) 作为主要土地拥有和志愿服务组织的能力。我们提出了一项范围界定研究和共同设计的试点，将这些内容整合在一起。环境 DNA (eDNA) 是物种释放到环境中的 DNA 痕迹。 eDNA 的来源包括分泌的粪便、粘液、配子、脱落的皮肤、毛发和尸体，这些都可以在水或土壤样本中检测到。 eDNA 改变物种记录并向很少或没有传统物种识别技能的人们开放它的潜力是巨大的。到目前为止，最成熟的应用是针对水生环境中的鱼类和两栖动物，可以分析简单的水样以生成存在的物种列表，甚至提供不同物种相对比例的一些指示。初步工作表明，非专业人士（钓鱼者和学童）可以收集足够的（未受污染的）水样，以提供有关水体中存在哪些物种的可靠数据。有机会让感兴趣的社区以迄今为止不可能的方式（由于复杂且昂贵的调查方法或缺乏物种识别技能）收集有关当地河流、湖泊或池塘中生活的生物的信息。我们相信，能够收集这些数据将激发人们更多地了解当地水域的健康状况，从而采取进一步行动，要么更多地参与数据收集，要么解决问题以改善淡水。使用令人兴奋且新颖的科学工具可以开辟一条参与和直接行动的途径。通过让志愿者参与决策过程并支持他们确定当地需求，我们相信参与者将建立与他人分享技能的信心。国家信托基金是面向公众的 IRO 和慈善机构，也是大型土地所有者（250,000 公顷），其雄心勃勃的是改造我们的土地，使之更有利于野生动物，并为社会提供广泛的利益。凭借 550 万会员和超过 60,000 名志愿者，这项工作接触并吸引大型社区的潜力是巨大的。伙伴关系工作和公众参与深深植根于北领地的整体研究计划中。北领地面临的挑战之一是监测我们在整个庄园所做的改变的有效性，但也要确保我们的监测工作在更广泛的英国网络中发挥作用，跟踪我们的景观健康状况。我们坚信，利用我们的会员、志愿者和访客资产的公民科学可以在这方面发挥重要作用。通过这个项目，我们将汇集北领地研究人员、英国领先的淡水和 eDNA 科学家、公民科学专家和一群北领地志愿者，共同探索淡水 eDNA 监测的最新技术。通过研讨会和共同设计过程，我们将： 为基于淡水 eDNA 的英国范围内公民科学项目的开发提出一系列建议 开发并实施共同设计的试点，以测试 eDNA 物种数据的公民科学收集（ NT 正在领导一个改善和恢复淡水环境的合作项目（诺福克上布尔） 回顾试点经验教训，为基于 eDNA 的公民科学的进一步发展提供信息 该项目将直接导致发展的一个未来将为基于 eDNA 的国家级公民科学研究项目提供资助。

项目成果

Co-design of a citizen science study: Unlocking the potential of eDNA for volunteer freshwater monitoring

共同设计一项公民科学研究：释放 eDNA 在志愿者淡水监测方面的潜力

• DOI: 10.1002/2688-8319.12273
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Ecological Solutions and Evidence
• 影响因子: 2.9
• 作者: Clarke S