Temporal and spatial variation in distribution of fish environmental DNA in England’s largest lake

Here, we carried out comprehensive spatial sampling of England’s largest lake, Windermere, during summer and winter to 1) examine the repeatability of the method, 2) compare eDNA results with contemporary gill-net survey data, 3) test the hypothesis of greater spatial structure of eDNA in summer compared to winter due to differences in water mixing between seasons, and 4) compare the effectiveness of shore and offshore sampling locations for species detection.

本研究针对英格兰最大湖泊温德米尔湖（Windermere）于夏季与冬季开展了全面空间采样，旨在实现四项研究目标：一是验证该采样方法的可重复性；二是将环境DNA（environmental DNA, eDNA）检测结果与同期刺网调查数据进行对比；三是验证相关假说：由于不同季节水体混合程度存在差异，夏季环境DNA的空间结构相较于冬季更为显著；四是对比近岸与远岸采样点位在物种检测中的效能。