Took a while but finally published in @aer-ese-bes.bsky.social! Our study indicates great crested newt #eDNA survey window could be extended beyond June and filtration outperforms ethanol precipitation, but further evidence needed to support changes to regulated protocol doi.org/10.1002/2688...

A great FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Resuseable) hosted by Miwa Takahashi of CSIRO, @lynseyrharper.bsky.social @nidunn.bsky.social last Friday. Recording great metadata for #eDNA studies, #futureproof

Don't forget to sign up for making #eDNA data FAIR workshop, led by Miwa Takahashi and @nidunn.bsky.social at UCL, London, on 25th July. There's limited support with practical exercises for online attendees due to workshop format, so in-person attendance is encouraged if you want hands-on training!

Citizen scientists are better at this #eDNA craic than we are 😆 But that's not the main point! A passion project of @hollybroadhurst.bsky.social, where she delves into their motivations and experiences of engaging in eDNA surveys theoryandpractice.citizenscienceassociation.org/articles/10....

Interested in making #eDNA data FAIR? A workshop on 25th July at UCL will cover: - FAIR data principles, data standards, and best #eDNA data practices - Using FAIRe tools and guidelines to format data (fair-edna.github.io) - Q&A / discussion Register by 4th July at www.surveymonkey.com/r/MN8ZS3Y!

New paper out from our crew on using #eDNA to detect the pathogenic chytrid fungus (Bsal) and characterise the surrounding amphibian community from pond samples in the Netherlands. Small number of samples but highlights the potential of eDNA for routine monitoring of both. bioone.org/journals/jou...

🚨 Out now in #EnvironmentalDNA led by #MiwaTakahashi: Results of a huge, global effort to facilitate the publication of raw and processed #eDNA data & ensure that dataset we are currently generating, adhere to the #FAIR principles & won't be lost. @gbif.org, #ENA, doi.org/10.1002/edn3...

📢 New paper alert! Proud to co-author this effort to make #eDNA data more FAIR — Findable, Accessible, Interoperable & Reusable 🧬🌍 We introduce a metadata checklist & formatting guide to boost reuse & impact across #eDNA science. 🔗 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #FAIRdata

Colleagues from #eDNAquaPlan have participated in the article "A Metadata Checklist and Data Formatting Guidelines to Make eDNA FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) in Environmental DNA” tinyurl.com/mv3wzep4 Please share! #eDNA #Data #FAIR @boulangerem.bsky.social

Let’s standardise upload + archival of #eDNA data to relevant repositories with the new FAIR #eDNA (FAIRe) guidelines 🧚🧬🌍Fantastic work by Miwa Takahashi and coauthors! 📄 Read the paper: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... 🔧 Get updates and new tools via the FAIRe website: fair-edna.github.io

Our second last session is #eDNA for #terrestrial ecosystem monitoring, restoration and management. First, Bridget Emmett gives an overview of ecosystem monitoring by @ukceh.bsky.social and partners. Soils became focus in 1970s with #eDNA incorporated in recent years #UKDNAWG25

Doug Yu presents results of large-scale #eDNA survey across 30,000 km2 protected area complex in China. OccPlus model used which accounts for false positives and false negatives in the field and the lab using read frequency #UKDNAWG25

Buffy Smith @theednaconsultancy.bsky.social compared #iDNA and airborne #eDNA for #biodiversity in fragmented forest landscape. #iDNA more spatially sensitive. More domestic species detected with #iDNA than #eDNA tended to capture larger native mammals - differential shedding rates? #UKDNAWG25

@clarecowgill.bsky.social compared #eDNA, #ecoacoustics + camera trapping for monitoring #terrestrial rewilding. Aquatic, soil + surface (tree rolling) #eDNA used. Most species with #ecoacoustics + tree rolling. More mammals + amphibians with #eDNA. More birds with #ecoacoustics #UKDNAWG25

Speed talks! First Nadia Barsoum @forestresearchuk.bsky.social talks about use of #eDNA for forest #mammals. Camera traps compared to aquatic, soil, airborne and surface #eDNA. More species detected with #eDNA, particularly surface #eDNA #UKDNAWG25 1/6

Last session of #UKDNAWG25 is standards, best practice, current knowledge gaps and future opportunities. @leeselab.bsky.social discusses how we go from wild west of #eDNA to standards. Challenges are limited comparability of methods and unequal access to technical infrastructure and funding.

@lyndallp.bsky.social gives insights and challenges from BIOSCAN. Scaling up, taxonomic bias + data quality have been big challenges. Sampling has ramped up over years. Most samples dominated by Diptera, but many taxa only seen once. Good coverage of UK habitats. Data platform now live #UKDNAWG25

Now @nidunn.bsky.social on importance of metadata for publishing and mobilising #metabarcoding data. Metadata key to understanding how species records were generated and making confidence judgement. FAIR #eDNA project has established workflow which @naturalengland.bsky.social have adopted #UKDNAWG25

Speed talks! Caroline Howard @sangerinstitute.bsky.social gives update on Tree of Life project. Number of sequences are increasing every day, with slight bias towards Lepidoptera but also spanning all taxonomic groups. Fabulous genomic resource for the wider community to use #UKDNAWG25 1/4

Speed talks! @kirstenjharper.bsky.social uncovers #marine #biodiversity around Pitcairn Islands. Fish communities differ by site + depth. Species detections matched life histories + habitat preferences. More data for other taxa + comparisons with other methods still to come! #UKDNAWG25 1/4

Dina-Leigh Simons @liverpooluni.bsky.social used #eDNA to survey rocky reef #biodiversity. Many spatial + environmental influences on intertidal #eDNA, but local abiotic stress gradients and known biogeographical patterns captured. Scale-appropriate sampling needed #UKDNAWG25

Karen Tait @plymouthmarine.bsky.social presents morphological and #molecular time-series to assess #zooplankton changes over last decade. #eDNA gives diff community insights. More info overall with both methods. Insights into meroplankton winners and losers as well as seasonal changes #UKDNAWG25

#UKDNAWG25 Day 2 begins with #marine monitoring. Kate Wade @jncc.bsky.social explains how 🧬 uptake been slow - challenges combining with traditional methods, and lack of funding, knowledge and confidence. New UK Marine DNA Group aims to advance, collaborate + share learning, starting with workshop

Ending the day with panel discussion on opportunities for cross discipline and cross sector collaboration, with panellists representing government, academia and industry. If you’re not here this year, do comment with any questions you would like asked! #UKDNAWG25

Next speed talk session! Salla Vartia introduces PINK Track. Project aims to develop standardised #eDNA protocols for surveillance of pink salmon. 8 filter types compared across 6 countries - all performed reasonably well #UKDNAWG25 1/4

Tom Wilding of SAMS giving overview of #eDNA based Infaunal Quality Index (IQI). Traditional IQI expensive, time-consuming, and incompatible with active management. #eDNA can give repeatable data and predict IQI if SOP followed. Ring testing also showed diff labs could achieve same result #UKDNAWG25

Joe Taylor @ukceh.bsky.social on integrating DNA into #lake monitoring. Decades of biological, chemical and physical data for Cumbrian lakes. #eDNA #metabarcoding introduced in 2021. Clear seasonal shifts in bacterial community composition and separation by trophic status #UKDNAWG25

Jono Warren of Environment Agency continues work on #river #biofilms, presenting results of #microbial #metabarcoding. Nitrate = problem for ecological health of rivers. Indicators needed for management. Sensitive and tolerant taxa identified. Placement of ‘good’ ecological threshold key #UKDNAWG25

@amycthorpe.bsky.social giving insights to #river microbial diversity. Using Environment Agency’s River Surveillance Network, >1500 #biofilms collected, with #metagenomic sequencing for >400. Lots of novel taxa detected. Communities tend to be made up of high occupancy, abundant bacteria #UKDNAWG25

Where it all started… #eDNA monitoring in #aquatic ecosystems. First @profsicreer.bsky.social giving an overview of #freshwater lotic #eDNA, with investigations from mesocosm to ecosystem scale to understand fate, transport, spatiotemporal variation and environmental drivers #UKDNAWG25

Speed talks! Kate Denton @naturemetrics-edna.bsky.social used airborne #eDNA to look at crucial but overlooked #biodiversity on Somerset levels to infer ecosystem function. NatureAir project will expand this work #UKDNAWG25 1/3

Connor Scott @forestresearchuk.bsky.social used airborne #eDNA of fungal spores to look at tree colonisation of former agricultural land. Higher success with airborne #eDNA + sporocarp #metabarcoding than visual survey, but species ID tricky. Many tools needed to profile fungal diversity #UKDNAWG25

Now to the darker side of #eDNA with Jamie Marsay from Kromek, detecting #biosecurity threats using in-field tech for accessibility and quick deployment/response. Samplers developed and combined with lab on chip or @oxfordnanopore.bsky.social MinION sequencing into sampling units #UKDNAWG25

Matthew Clark @nhm-london.bsky.social introducing AirSeq. Pilots showed seasonal trends in agricultural crop pathogen spores, and spraying sometimes occurring too late. Now expanding to animals and zoonoses with platform for real-time #metagenomics, and looking at changes in space/time #UKDNAWG25

Airborne #eDNA can be used for species at risk to large-scale ecology. Recurring problem of benchmarking #eDNA against existing monitoring while capilitising on the unique information it provides. Future work will look at transport, sampling, seasonality and much more #UKDNAWG25

@jlittlefair.bsky.social kicks off session on novel and emerging methods for #terrestrial 🧬 monitoring with airborne #eDNA. Aquatic #eDNA development gave airborne #eDNA a running start. Proof-of-concepts in zoos provided evidence for also detecting UK species of importance #UKDNAWG25

Lesley Rippon and Katherine Burgess introduce Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA) programme. #eDNA being used in GenePools and England Ecosystem Survey @naturalengland.bsky.social More than 1300 species detected from urban #ponds by citizen scientists #UKDNAWG25

David Bass @cefasgovuk.bsky.social, chair of Defra DNA Centre of Excellence (CoE), gives overview of its aims and function. Focus on data storage, sharing and harmonisation with future focus on state-of-the-art and metric development. Links to other consortia for cross-sector working #UKDNAWG25

For #eDNA to advance in government circles, we need: 1. High quality, open and internationally agreed sequence databases. 2. Inter-calibration and standardisation. 3. Agreed approaches for data processing. 4. Transparency in methods. #UKDNAWG25

Gideon Henderson, Defra Chief Scientific Adviser, speaking on how #eDNA can contribute to Defra properties. Legally binding #biodiversity targets domestically and internationally. We cannot manage what we don’t measure. Statutory monitoring inadequate + too costly to fully assess trends #UKDNAWG25

How do we continue to promote join up between researchers and end users? How do we broaden scope of work? How do we work internationally? Share your thoughts before the end of the conference! #UKDNAWG25

How times have changed… @andynisbet.bsky.social reflects on #eDNA and @ukdnawg.bsky.social progress over the last decade. From newts to standards. Many valuable partnerships and collaborations created #UKDNAWG25

#eDNA #eRNA #omics people: would you support the formation of a European Society for Environmental Omics #ESEO? Please share your thoughts in the questionnaire & spread this message! 🙏 Thank you, the ESEO core team! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

The DNA team @naturalengland.bsky.social have just published recommendations on metadata to be submitted with #eDNA (& other DNA) data to allow a judgement of confidence and help the data to be used appropriately. See publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/...

Fantastic to see the State of Windermere in 2024 report and Windermere Integrated Science Plan (WISP) published! Over 90 yrs of information and data on Windermere and its catchment summarised during my time with @freshwaterbio.bsky.social, which was only possible with the help of many people! 1/4

A new opportunity to work with our expanding #eDNA and #biodiversity lab as a postdoc looking at human impacts across space and time with terrestrial airborne eDNA. UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship funded opportunity based at the @ucl-pnl.bsky.social: www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...

Presenting our vision and research for airborne #eDNA sampling assets as part of @ukri.org NERC/Defra Innovation in Environmental Monitoring grant programme, with collaborators @naturalengland.bsky.social and National Physical Laboratory

We are delighted to announce that the 11th #ukdnawg conference will be hosted by the @royalsociety.org London on 13-14th May 2025. For more information, and to register, follow the links from ukeof.org.uk/our-work/ukdna 🧬 #eDNA #biodiversity

1/3 Hello Bluesky! We are delighted to launch the shiny new @ukeof.bsky.social UK DNA Working Group Blue Sky Account! 🧬🐟🦈🌱🦫🍄🦆🪳🐸

Latest pre-print led by Tim Noyes comparing #eDNA and BRUVs for monitoring #fish biodiversity in a subtropical coral reef. Combining methods added 90 species that use Bermuda's mesophotic coral ecosystem! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... @blancobercial.bsky.social @marianilab.bsky.social