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Review article - Peer-reviewed, 2022

Investigating the effects of anthropogenic stressors on lake biota using sedimentary DNA

Barouillet, Cecilia; Monchamp, Marie-Eve; Bertilsson, Stefan; Brasell, Katie; Domaizon, Isabelle; Epp, Laura S.; Ibrahim, Anan; Mejbel, Hebah; Nwosu, Ebuka Canisius; Pearman, John K.; Picard, Mailys; Thomson-Laing, Georgia; Tsugeki, Narumi; Von Eggers, Jordan; Gregory-Eaves, Irene; Pick, Frances; Wood, Susanna A.; Capo, Eric

Abstract

Analyses of sedimentary DNA (sedDNA) have increased exponentially over the last decade and hold great potential to study the effects of anthropogenic stressors on lake biota over time. Herein, we synthesise the literature that has applied a sedDNA approach to track historical changes in lake biodiversity in response to anthropogenic impacts, with an emphasis on the past c. 200 years. We identified the following research themes that are of particular relevance: (1) eutrophication and climate change as key drivers of limnetic communities; (2) increasing homogenisation of limnetic communities across large spatial scales; and (3) the dynamics and effects of invasive species as traced in lake sediment archives. Altogether, this review highlights the potential of sedDNA to draw a more comprehensive picture of the response of lake biota to anthropogenic stressors, opening up new avenues in the field of paleoecology by unrevealing a hidden historical biodiversity, building new paleo-indicators, and reflecting either taxonomic or functional attributes. Broadly, sedDNA analyses provide new perspectives that can inform ecosystem management, conservation, and restoration by offering an approach to measure ecological integrity and vulnerability, as well as ecosystem functioning.

Keywords

anthropogenic stressors; climate change; eutrophication; invasive species; sedimentary DNA

Published in

Freshwater Biology
2022,
Publisher: WILEY

Authors' information

Barouillet, Cecilia
INRAE
Monchamp, Marie-Eve
McGill University
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment
Brasell, Katie
Cawthron Institute
Domaizon, Isabelle
INRAE
Epp, Laura S.
University of Konstanz
Ibrahim, Anan
Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology – Hans Knöll Institute
Mejbel, Hebah
University of Ottawa
Nwosu, Ebuka Canisius
Helmholtz Association
Pearman, John K.
Cawthron Institute
Picard, Mailys
Cawthron Institute
Thomson-Laing, Georgia
Cawthron Institute
Tsugeki, Narumi
Matsuyama University
Von Eggers, Jordan
University of Wyoming
Gregory-Eaves, Irene
McGill University
Pick, Frances
University of Ottawa
Wood, Susanna A.
Cawthron Institute
Capo, Eric
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG15 Life on land

UKÄ Subject classification

Ecology

Publication Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.14027

URI (permanent link to this page)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/120585