Environmental DNA illuminates the dark diversity of sharks
© 2018 The Authors. In the era of "Anthropocene defaunation," large species are often no longer detected in habitats where they formerly occurred. However, it is unclear whether this apparent missing, or "dark," diversity of megafauna results from local species extirpations or fr...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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American Association for the Advancement of Science (A A A S)
2018
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/69171 |
| _version_ | 1848761986985230336 |
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| author | Boussarie, G. Bakker, J. Wangensteen, O. Mariani, S. Bonnin, L. Juhel, J. Kiszka, J. Kulbicki, M. Manel, S. Robbins, William Vigliola, L. Mouillot, D. |
| author_facet | Boussarie, G. Bakker, J. Wangensteen, O. Mariani, S. Bonnin, L. Juhel, J. Kiszka, J. Kulbicki, M. Manel, S. Robbins, William Vigliola, L. Mouillot, D. |
| author_sort | Boussarie, G. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | © 2018 The Authors. In the era of "Anthropocene defaunation," large species are often no longer detected in habitats where they formerly occurred. However, it is unclear whether this apparent missing, or "dark," diversity of megafauna results from local species extirpations or from failure to detect elusive remaining individuals. We find that despite two orders of magnitude less sampling effort, environmental DNA (eDNA) detects 44% more shark species than traditional underwater visual censuses and baited videos across the New Caledonian archipelago (south-western Pacific). Furthermore, eDNA analysis reveals the presence of previously unobserved shark species in humanimpacted areas. Overall, our results highlight a greater prevalence of sharks than described by traditional survey methods in both impacted and wilderness areas. This indicates an urgent need for large-scale eDNA assessments to improve monitoring of threatened and elusive megafauna. Finally, our findings emphasize the need for conservation efforts specifically geared toward the protection of elusive, residual populations. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T10:40:24Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-69171 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T10:40:24Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | American Association for the Advancement of Science (A A A S) |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-691712018-06-29T12:35:25Z Environmental DNA illuminates the dark diversity of sharks Boussarie, G. Bakker, J. Wangensteen, O. Mariani, S. Bonnin, L. Juhel, J. Kiszka, J. Kulbicki, M. Manel, S. Robbins, William Vigliola, L. Mouillot, D. © 2018 The Authors. In the era of "Anthropocene defaunation," large species are often no longer detected in habitats where they formerly occurred. However, it is unclear whether this apparent missing, or "dark," diversity of megafauna results from local species extirpations or from failure to detect elusive remaining individuals. We find that despite two orders of magnitude less sampling effort, environmental DNA (eDNA) detects 44% more shark species than traditional underwater visual censuses and baited videos across the New Caledonian archipelago (south-western Pacific). Furthermore, eDNA analysis reveals the presence of previously unobserved shark species in humanimpacted areas. Overall, our results highlight a greater prevalence of sharks than described by traditional survey methods in both impacted and wilderness areas. This indicates an urgent need for large-scale eDNA assessments to improve monitoring of threatened and elusive megafauna. Finally, our findings emphasize the need for conservation efforts specifically geared toward the protection of elusive, residual populations. 2018 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/69171 10.1126/sciadv.aap9661 American Association for the Advancement of Science (A A A S) restricted |
| spellingShingle | Boussarie, G. Bakker, J. Wangensteen, O. Mariani, S. Bonnin, L. Juhel, J. Kiszka, J. Kulbicki, M. Manel, S. Robbins, William Vigliola, L. Mouillot, D. Environmental DNA illuminates the dark diversity of sharks |
| title | Environmental DNA illuminates the dark diversity of sharks |
| title_full | Environmental DNA illuminates the dark diversity of sharks |
| title_fullStr | Environmental DNA illuminates the dark diversity of sharks |
| title_full_unstemmed | Environmental DNA illuminates the dark diversity of sharks |
| title_short | Environmental DNA illuminates the dark diversity of sharks |
| title_sort | environmental dna illuminates the dark diversity of sharks |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/69171 |