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Environmental DNA, commonly called eDNA, is DNA that is shed from organisms in the natural environment. Skin cells, mucus, urine, and feces all contain the signature DNA of the animal that shed them. Everywhere animals go, they leave a trail of eDNA behind. As a result, using cutting-edge genetics techniques we can sample eDNA in streams to determine, with confidence, whether fish species of interest were present upstream from the sample site, or were there within the week preceding the sampling event.
This requires having DNA from the target species, against which the sampled eDNA is compared in a laboratory. The DNA ‘library’ from target species in the Pacific Northwest is growing rapidly as eDNA becomes more widely used by researchers to better understand the distribution of fishes.
presence of rare or cryptic species.
Because the fieldwork simply requires filtering stream water, eDNA assessments are done without handling the target species – an important consideration when working with populations of threatened or endangered fish. It has revolutionized researchers’ ability to understand fish species distribution at the landscape-scale.
Understanding where threatened and endangered fish live is fundamental to efforts to effectively protect and restore the habitats they rely upon. This, along with hatchery and harvest reform, provides a recipe for recovery.
Since 2015 Wild Fish Conservancy has been using eDNA in a variety of projects throughout Washington. With this powerful tool we are also searching for previously undocumented bull trout populations in Olympic Peninsula headwaters and Wenatchee wilderness tributaries, and mapping fish distribution in San Juan County watersheds.
WEB MAP: View the Middle Fork Snoqualmie & Raging River Alluvial Water Storage Assessment Results
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