Trade‐offs between reducing complex terminology and producing accurate interpretations from environmental DNA: comment on “Environmental DNA: what's behind the term?” by Pawlowski et al., (2020)

Rodriguez‐Ezpeleta, N. et al. (2021) Trade‐offs between reducing complex terminology and producing accurate interpretations from environmental DNA: comment on “Environmental DNA: what's behind the term?” by Pawlowski et al., (2020). Molecular Ecology, 30(19), pp. 4601-4605. (doi: 10.1111/mec.15942) (PMID:34036646) (PMCID:PMC8698002)

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Abstract

In a recent paper, “Environmental DNA: What's behind the term? Clarifying the terminology and recommendations for its future use in biomonitoring,” Pawlowski et al. argue that the term eDNA should be used to refer to the pool of DNA isolated from environmental samples, as opposed to only extra-organismal DNA from macro-organisms. We agree with this view. However, we are concerned that their proposed two-level terminology specifying sampling environment and targeted taxa is overly simplistic and might hinder rather than improve clear communication about environmental DNA and its use in biomonitoring. This terminology is based on categories that are often difficult to assign and uninformative, and it overlooks a fundamental distinction within eDNA: the type of DNA (organismal or extra-organismal) from which ecological interpretations are derived.

Item Type:Articles
Additional Information:N.R.E. has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (project EDAMAME – Environmental DNA based approaches for marine and aquatic monitoring and evaluation; CTM2017-89500-R). L.E.H. was supported by the Natural Environmental Research Council (grant no. NE/L002531/1). K.D. has been supported by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant agreement No. 852621).
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Bean, Professor Colin
Authors: Rodriguez‐Ezpeleta, N., Morissette, O., Bean, C. W., Manu, S., Banerjee, P., Lacoursière‐Roussel, A., Beng, K. C., Alter, S. E., Roger, F., Holman, L. E., Stewart, K. A., Monaghan, M. T., Mauvisseau, Q., Mirimin, L., Wangensteen, O. S., Antognazza, C. M., Helyar, S. J., Boer, H., Monchamp, M.‐E., Nijland, R., Abbott, C. L., Doi, H., Barnes, M. A., Leray, M., Hablützel, P. I., and Deiner, K.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
Journal Name:Molecular Ecology
Publisher:Wiley
ISSN:0962-1083
ISSN (Online):1365-294X
Published Online:25 May 2021
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2021 The Authors
First Published:First published in Molecular Ecology 30(19): 4601-4605
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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