Mo’orea eDNA Project / Projet eDNA

23 Mar 2025

Expedition

Public

Active

Island Sustainability Project 2025

Sub Project

Erin Robinson | Gump South Pacific Research Station

Malia Yalisove
maliay04@berkeley.edu

In February 2025, the Island Sustainability Program cohort sampled eDNA (environmental DNA) from different locations around Mo’orea, French Polynesia. eDNA is DNA collected in aggregate from the environment rather than from an individual organism. It allows for rapid monitoring and measurement of biodiversity and species presence without collecting a living sample. eDNA serves as a proxy for biodiversity, as the eDNA sample can be sequenced to detect the number and types of species that have shed their genetic material in the water. The sample is parsed apart by DNA sequencing methods like metagenomics and metabarcoding, in which the sequence is compared against existing DNA libraries. Sampling biodiversity from different sites across Mo’orea allows us to assess how the species composition and richness of ecological communities varies across an island ecosystem. This also allows us to examine how different factors such as salinity, distance from the ocean, pristine versus impacted reef, proximity to population centers, and anthropogenic inputs impacts biodiversity.

Collections and items in our institution have incomplete, inaccurate, and/or missing attribution. We are using this notice to clearly identify this material so that it can be updated, or corrected by communities of origin. Our institution is committed to collaboration and partnerships to address this problem of incorrect or missing attribution.

The BC (Biocultural) Notice is a visible notification that there are accompanying cultural rights and responsibilities that need further attention for any future sharing and use of this material or data. The BC Notice recognizes the rights of Indigenous Peoples to permission the use of information, collections, data and digital sequence information (DSI) generated from the biodiversity or genetic resources associated with traditional lands, waters, and territories. The BC Notice may indicate that BC Labels are in development and their implementation is being negotiated.

The TK (Traditional Knowledge) Notice is a visible notification that there are accompanying cultural rights and responsibilities that need further attention for any future sharing and use of this material. The TK Notice may indicate that TK Labels are in development and their implementation is being negotiated.