Environmental DNA provides early detection of invasive crayfish
Wednesday, September 21, 2016 - 07:31
in Biology & Nature
Every plant and animal has a unique genetic composition, which makes a lake like a bowl of DNA soup—every spoonful contains the combined DNA of the lake's inhabitants. Scientists have only recently begun using this environmental DNA, or eDNA, to identify the presence of organisms like amphibians and fish. A U of I researcher and his colleagues analyzed eDNA to successfully detect the presence of the highly invasive rusty crayfish in a dozen Wisconsin lakes. Using eDNA to monitor hard to detect species can provide early warnings of newly arrived invasive species.