The Nature Files
From invasive crabs to lost whales, tapping into the world of environmental DNA can be the key to solving some of nature’s biggest riddles. Join us as we crack the code on nature and unlock mysteries in The Nature Files. This video series is endorsed by the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development as a Decade Activity. Find out more about the Ocean Decade at oceandecade.org
Produced and edited by Katrina Pyne
Narrated by Grant Callegari
Videography by Katrina Pyne, Bennett Whitnell, Grant Callegari, and Toby Hall
The eDNA Briefing
The natural world is full of riddles—and some can be pretty tough cases to crack. The key to solving some of nature’s biggest mysteries is to tap into the world of environmental DNA, which reveals traces of plants and animals that are hiding in the shadows. But before we dig into our case files, sit back and get ready to be briefed on the ever-expanding world of eDNA.
Teacher cheat sheet of what’s included in this episode of The Nature Files:
– What is DNA and where can it be found?
– What is environmental DNA (eDNA) and what kinds of questions related to nature can it help answer?
– What is the process of working with eDNA (sample collection, extraction, amplification, sequencing)?
– eDNA databases and reference libraries
The Case of the Disappearing DNA
In our first case file, we find out how environmental DNA can be used to assess the health of an entire ecosystem—all by looking at some of that ecosystem’s smallest inhabitants: amphipods. It’s a grand idea, but the DNA of these tiny shrimplike critters is as elusive as the creatures themselves. Will researchers find a way to detect the disappearing DNA and crack this case?
Teacher cheat sheet of what’s included in this episode of The Nature Files:
– What is an amphipod? What role do they play in the ocean environment?
– Using amphipods to assess ecosystem health
– Using eDNA to detect amphipods; genetic tags
– Experiments to explore the limits of eDNA; mesocosms; DNA degradation
The Case of the Wayward Whales
Researchers have been coming to Kingnait Fjord in Canada’s Baffin Island for years to study how bowhead whales are adapting to climate change. But this year, the whales aren’t where they’re supposed to be. So the team of researchers are using environmental DNA to find out what’s got the whales on the move. Will they crack the case and find out what’s happened to these wayward whales?
Teacher cheat sheet of what’s included in this episode of The Nature Files:
– Description of Baffin Island bowhead whales, what they eat (zooplankton), and how the whales and their food sources are adapting to climate change
– Using eDNA (from skin and excrement) to understand bowhead whale movements
– Technology used to study zooplankton (CTD, underwater vision profiler, echosounder, eDNA)
– Zooplankton, bowhead whale, killer whale
The Case of the Spawning Sockeye
In the Fulmore Lake region of British Columbia, pacific salmon have been struggling to survive against global forces, like logging, which have destroyed many of their spawning beds over the last century. But the local Tlowitsis Nation has no interest in a world without salmon. How will they use environmental DNA to crack the case and restore their struggling sockeye salmon population?
Teacher cheat sheet of what’s included in this episode of The Nature Files:
– The role of salmon in Pacific Northwest ecosystems
– Threats to salmon (logging, climate change)
– Using eDNA for long-term monitoring (species presence and absence)
– Tlowitsis Nation; Guardian Watchmen’s role in monitoring salmon; resource management
– Integrated Coastal Observatory (ICO) project • Sockeye, pink, and coho salmon
The Case of the Scattered Salmon
Environmental DNA can be used to solve all sorts of cases through the powers of detection—that is, detecting different species in an ecosystem—and this is just the beginning of what eDNA might be capable of. Can we push this work into unknown waters to test new advances in eDNA technology?
Teacher cheat sheet of what’s included in this episode of The Nature Files:
– Advances in eDNA; experiments to see if eDNA can answer ecological questions beyond species presence and absence
– The types and quality of information eDNA might offer that traditional approaches to studying salmon don’t
– Salmon life cycle and migration patterns; salmon’s role in the ecosystem; the impact of climate change on salmon
– Seine fishing; quantitative PCR (qPCR)
The Case of the Colonizing Crabs
Here in serene North Pacific waters, the European green crab is an unwelcome inhabitant. Like other invasive species, green crabs leave a trail of destruction behind, so people are mobilizing to remove these crabs before they establish a foothold. How can eDNA stop this crustacean invasion before it’s too late?
Teacher cheat sheet of what’s included in this episode of The Nature Files:
– What is an invasive species?
– How and when European green crabs arrived in the North Pacific
– The effect of invasive European green crabs on seagrass beds (on the habitat and other species living there) in the North Pacific Ocean
– Using eDNA to detect, monitor, and help manage invasive populations
– The Coastal Restoration Society; T’Sou-ke First Nation
Q&A
Meet Matt Lemay, Colleen Kellogg, and Sue Velazquez, the team of eDNA experts behind the series.
Teacher cheat sheet of what’s included in this episode of The Nature Files:
– Can you sample eDNA from places other than water?
– How can eDNA be used to affect policy, management, or conservation?
– How costly is it to extract, amplify, and sequence eDNA? Is this becoming more accessible any time soon?
– Is it hard to get trained to collect eDNA samples?
– Can eDNA detect small things like larvae in the water, or viruses?
– What’s the future for eDNA? Where can we take it next?