Metazoan diversity in Chilean hypersaline lakes unveiled by environmental DNA
Journal: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
Year: 2025

Saline and hypersaline wetlands are biodiversity hotspots for metazoans such as aquatic invertebrates and wading birds. However, the survival of these habitats and their biota is increasingly threatened by a combination of pressures from climate change and extractive processes. With the goal of improving conservation efforts in hypersaline ecosystems, this study tests the use of eDNA methods for metazoan biomonitoring. We employed a multi-assay approach utilizing three genetic markers—12S rRNA,