Workshop to explore how to incorporate eDNA-based approaches into ocean acidification monitoring

SCCWRP and the California Ocean Protection Council will host a two-day workshop in March exploring how to incorporate environmental DNA (eDNA) methods into regional ocean acidification (OA) monitoring programs that track the biological effects of OA on aquatic life.

The workshop, which will be held March 17-18, 2025 at SCCWRP, will discuss idealized eDNA monitoring scenarios for organisms of interest, and develop recommendations to guide potential future investments in OA biological monitoring. eDNA-based monitoring uses the DNA that organisms shed into their environment – known as environmental DNA – to monitor a broad range of organisms, often with greater speed, accuracy, and precision than traditional monitoring methods that rely on manual observation of organisms.

The Southern California Bight Regional Monitoring Program is among the multiple West Coast programs that are tracking how corrosive seawater conditions can trigger shell dissolution in vulnerable aquatic life like pteropods, or sea snails.

While the existing OA biological effects monitoring focuses on manually analyzing organisms for signs of shell dissolution, Bight ’23 will pilot the use of eDNA analysis methods this February when the program launches its cyclical OA biological monitoring survey. The eDNA monitoring will complement manual shell analyses, enabling researchers to begin tracking the relative abundance of the same organisms that are being monitored for shell dissolution.