18S rDNA Meiofauna Asinara Beaches

The goal of this study is to investigate the effect of trampling on marine protected areas using meiofauna as a proxy for biodiversity. As a study area, we selected one of the most pristine localities in the Western Mediterranean, in order to minimize the interaction with other confounding factors, and with a relatively low level of tourism, so that even small effects of trampling could be identified. The Island of Asinara in Sardinia fulfills this requirement. We chose to combine two approaches. First, using High-Throughput Sequencing (HTS) on bulk meiofaunal extractions, we obtained a fragment of the 18S rDNA for all the meiofaunal organisms present in the samples.