Multi-taxon amplicon sequences from environmental samples

A range of methods were used to extract DNA from six environmental sample types (soil, leaf litter, stream water, stream sediment, stream biofilm and a stream kick-net sample) and amplified using five sets of PCR primers that amplified either bacterial, fungal, plant, animal or fish DNA.This data was then used to determine which DNA extraction method was able to extract DNA from the widest range of organisms, across the largest range of sample types. This knowledge will be used to improve our ability to monitor the biodiversity present in our environments using eDNA methods.