Community structure and functional diversity of aquatic fungi are correlated with water quality: Insights from multi-marker analysis of environmental DNA (eDNA) in a coastal watershed.. aquatic fungi

Anthropogenic stressors affect ecosystem function. Aquatic fungi drive important ecosystem processes which may be affected by anthropogenic stressors. However, due to the great diversity of aquatic fungi, the relationships among water quality variables, fungal community composition, and ecosystem function remain understudied. We used a multi-marker survey of environmental DNA and long-term water quality data to survey 17 stream, pond, and tidal creek sites within a coastal drainage network in southeastern Virginia, USA, targeting both the ITS2 and LSU barcoding regions.