Assessing freshwater biodiversity through environmental DNA along the Mekong River in Ubonrathsahany Province, Thailand and from Bolikhamxay to Savannakhet Provinces in Lao P.D.R.

A total of 120 environmental DNA (eDNA) samples were collected between 2 and 10 April, 2025 across 26 sites (twenty sites in Laos and six sites in Thailand). This eDNA sampling effort was a follow-up to the eDNA monitoring that took place in 2022 and 2024, which focused on sampling Fish Conservation Zones (FCZs) that were established by phases 1 and 2 of the Phouxiengthong (PXT) Lao-Thai Fisheries (LTF) Project (FISHBIO 2022, 2024). This eDNA monitoring effort followed similar methods to the 2024 sampling effort. The same sites sampled in 2024 for the PXT project were sampled again this year, and an additional 12 sites from the Siphandone Wetlands in Laos were included for the 2025 report as part of the Siphandone Project (SPD), where FCZs have also been established.