Estimating Aquatic Species Density From Environmental DNA

The next frontier of eDNA applications is to estimate species abundance and density. Building upon previous studies correlating eDNA concentration and associated animal density, researchers developed a modeling approach that uses eDNA and associated animal density data from a subset of sites to estimate animal density at other sites where only eDNA data are available. Authors note areas where the model could be further developed to yield more accurate estimates. This approach represents one of the first steps to advance the difficult, but important topic of inferring animal density from eDNA data.

Chambert, T., Pilliod, D.S., Goldberg, C.S., Doi, H., Takahara, T., 2018, An analytical framework for estimating aquatic species density from environmental DNA: Ecology and Evolution, https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3764.