GRRI CESU:Pilot Algal Assessment and Invasive Algae Detection at OZAR

archived

The objective of this Agreement is to coordinate and accomplish a field survey assessing algal communities within selected sites and screen for invasive species within Ozark National Scenic Riverways (ONSR), a unit of the National Park Service (NPS) in southeastern Missouri, in order to benefit the management and scientific community and encourage student development.  The public purpose of the project is to improve public understanding of natural and recreational resources at ONSR, particularly the relationship between invasive species and aquatic ecosystem health, and to develop new scientific knowledge addressing algal species distribution and invasive algal species detection. Specifically the project will determine if environmental DNA (eDNA) methods hold promise for accurate characterization of algal communities and screening of deleterious invasive algal species within flowing waters of the Ozarks.  The Recipient will sample up to 20 mainstem and tributary sites in ONSR during summer of 2019. Sampling locations will be co-located with existing habitat and biological monitoring sites used by the NPS Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network. DNA field methodologies recently tested in Ozark streams, including replicates, blanks, filtering, quality control, and storage will be conducted. Laboratory DNA extraction, PCR-based library prep, and NGS sequencing will be conducted during fall of 2019 and winter of 2020, with metabarcoding data subject to cleaning and filtering for quality, and taxonomy-supervised classification. Multivariate statistics will be used to classify and compare algae communities between sites of the ONSR, and relate algae communities to abiotic habitat conditions. The Recipient will provide eDNA-derived species lists by monitoring site as well as a report summarizing the results of all field work and data analysis within 90 days of the project termination date. A scientific manuscript for publication in a journal may also be prepared following the project.

High