Our ResearchCanada is investing in a large Marine Protected Area (MPA) network, spanning approximately 805,000 km, to preserve marine biodiversity and promote healthy, functional, and resilient marine ecosystems. However, current biodiversity sampling methods are inadequate to monitor biodiversity within a network of this size.
Is environmental DNA (eDNA) meta-barcoding a viable option for Canada? Here we evaluate and optimize marine monitoring survey designs in order to estimate the benefits of biodiversity certainty against the costs. The results of this project will be a key quantitative evaluation of eDNA survey designs and will provide a foundation for decisions in monitoring investment using this technology in the Canadian MPA network. |