Deagle BE, Jayasinghe SA, Bessey C, Bodrossy L, West, KM (2025) Environmental DNA for measuring offshore marine biodiversity: what can DNA in water collected from the RV Investigator tell us? Report to the National Environmental Science Program. CSIRO, Hobart, Australia.
Overview
Surveying biodiversity using environmental DNA (eDNA) is an emerging method for monitoring marine parks, supporting marine biosecurity, managing fisheries, and informing environmental reporting for offshore oil, gas, and renewable energy developments. Since this is a relatively new technology it is a priority to carry out research to allow evaluation of how well eDNA-based approaches can address questions relevant for various environmental management applications.
This research report presents an initial summary of eDNA datasets collected as part of the South-East Australian Marine Ecosystem Survey (SEA-MES). The eDNA samples were collected in conjunction with a conventional biodiversity survey from offshore sites between Tasmania and Southern NSW. We provide a detailed analysis of the eDNA from fish – looking at spatial drivers of diversity in the 230 fish taxa that we detected and comparing eDNA data with bottom trawl catches. We also look more broadly at eDNA from the full range of marine organism from bacteria to marine mammals. Finally, we summarise several technical findings related to eDNA sampling, data analysis and interpretation.
The primary aim of this research was to begin integrating eDNA into conventional offshore biodiversity surveys and to develop a series of case studies offering insights into best practices for collecting high-quality eDNA data.
