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.

本研究旨在以小型底栖生物（meiofauna）作为生物多样性替代指标，探究踩踏活动对海洋保护区的影响。为最大限度降低其他混杂因素的干扰，并确保能识别出踩踏活动的微弱影响，我们选取西地中海地区旅游开发程度较低、保存最为完好的原生海域作为研究区域。撒丁岛的阿西纳拉岛完全符合上述研究条件。本研究采用两种方法相结合的研究策略：首先，对批量小型底栖生物提取物进行高通量测序（High-Throughput Sequencing，HTS），获取样本中所有小型底栖生物的18S核糖体DNA（18S rDNA）片段。