eDNA

Environmental DNA (eDNA):

eDNA enables us to detect marine life from traces of genetic material left behind in water or sediments. This approach provides a rapid, non-invasive snapshot of entire ecosystems, including rare, cryptic or hard to identify species that are often missed by other methods. As a result, eDNA is revolutionising diversity monitoring and supporting smarter, evidence-based ocean management.

• Integrating eDNA with existing monitoring approaches
  At the Western Channel Observatory, one of the world’s longest-running marine time series sites, we combine eDNA with existing monitoring approaches to build a richer, more complete picture of marine ecosystems. This includes tracking changes in plankton and using eDNA to monitor fish communities. It’s a non-invasive way to observe seasonal patterns and long-term shifts, and to understand what’s driving them.

• Resolving predator–prey interactions
  Using eDNA, we can uncover complex feeding relationships that are difficult to observe directly. This includes identifying prey within plankton communities and revealing selective feeding by organisms such as bivalve larvae and gelatinous predators like jellyfish. This work provides new insights into how marine food webs are structured and how they respond to environmental change.

• Understanding ecosystem connectivity and carbon storage
  By integrating eDNA with stable isotope analysis, we have revealed how connections between coastal habitats contribute to long-term carbon storage. Our research highlights the role of macroalgae (seaweed) in transferring carbon to seabed systems, supporting efforts to mitigate climate change.

Biomolecular Approaches:

PML has over 25 years of experience applying innovative molecular techniques to a wide range of prokaryotic and eukaryotic ecological applications.  These approaches allow us to uncover hidden biodiversity, resolve complex ecological interactions, and understand how marine life responds to environmental stress. This ranges from using metabarcoding to reveal the hidden diversity of zooplankton assemblages to making robust scientific judgements about complex problems such as predator-prey relationships for jellyfish.

• Revealing hidden biodiversity and species shifts
  Using approaches such as metabarcoding and DNA fingerprinting, we characterise diverse marine communities, from microbes to zooplankton. In polar regions, for example, we distinguish closely related species such as Calanus, enabling the detection of large-scale climate-driven shifts like the “Atlantification” of the Arctic.

• Detecting biological responses to environmental stress
  We examine how organisms respond to pressures such as warming, ocean acidification, pollution, and trawling through bioinformatic analyses of gene expression. This allows us to move beyond species identification and detect early warning signals of ecosystem stress and resilience.

• Tracing sources of microbial pollution
  Through microbial source tracking, we identify the origins of pollution in coastal waters. This provides critical information for managing water quality, protecting ecosystem health, and supporting coastal industries.

An Integrated View of Ocean Life

By combining eDNA with advanced biomolecular tools, PML delivers a powerful, integrated understanding of the ocean, from microbes to fish, and from genes to ecosystems. Our research enhances environmental monitoring, guides policy, and supports the sustainable management of marine resources for the future.