Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are critical for safeguarding marine ecosystems and protecting marine biodiversity. In Australia, marine parks currently encompass ~3.3 million km2 and effective monitoring of biodiversity within these expansive and remote MPA’s is crucial for implementing successful management and conservation strategies. Minderoo, in partnership with Parks Australia, aims to accelerate the use of cutting-edge genomic-based technologies, like environmental DNA (eDNA), for marine park monitoring. We aim to provide a proof-of-concept that eDNA-based surveys are effective and holistic biomonitoring tools for marine ecosystem management.
We present eDNA metabarcoding data (using 12SMiFish-U and 16S/D-Fish primer sets) from a series of large-scale eDNA surveys: a 1000-kilometer transect within Wudjari Sea Country spanning from Israelite Bay to Albany, and an open-water transect from Fremantle to the Indian Ocean Territories, including Cocos (Keeling) and Christmas Islands. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of eDNA for characterising fish biodiversity, identifying and detecting biodiversity hotspots and species of interest, and for evaluating changes in fish assemblage across a range of spatial scales. Together with Parks Australia we aim to drive progress in the field of eDNA-based monitoring tailored for end-users and practical applications by working towards a framework to make eDNA more reproducible, trustworthy, and scalable.