Community structure of zooplankton and its response to aquatic environmental changes based on eDNA

Abstract:

Environmental DNA (eDNA) as a new tool, plays a significant role in the monitoring and evaluation of ecosystems, promoting the comprehensive understanding from the micro level to the entire ecosystem. In this study, the eDNA method was used to analyze the characteristics of zooplankton community structure, and compared and verified with traditional methods to reveal the application potential of eDNA monitoring in aquatic ecosystem assessment. The results showed that 69 species of zooplankton were detected by the eDNA method, among which the number of species detected by COI primers was larger. eDNA has more advantages in biological monitoring than traditional methods. The species composition and relative abundance of zooplankton communities show obvious spatial heterogeneity. Network analysis found that both rare species and dominant species play an irreplaceable role in biological communities. Moreover, molecular methods were used to further clarify the impact of ecological environment changes on the composition and spatial distribution of zooplankton communities, providing scientific basis and technical support for the conservation of aquatic ecosystem biodiversity.