California Agriculture (Mar 2021)
The CALeDNA program: Citizen scientists and researchers inventory California's biodiversity
- Rachel S. Meyer,
- Miroslava Munguia Ramos,
- Meixi Lin,
- Teia M. Schweizer,
- Zachary Gold,
- Dannise Ruiz Ramos,
- Sabrina Shirazi,
- Gaurav Kandlikar,
- Wai-Yin Kwan,
- Emily E. Curd,
- Amanda Freise,
- Jordan Moberg Parker,
- Jason P. Sexton,
- Regina Wetzer,
- N. Dean Pentcheff,
- Adam R. Wall,
- Lenore Pipes,
- Ana Garcia-Vedrenne,
- Maura Palacios Mejia,
- Tiara Moore,
- Chloe Orland,
- Kimberly M. Ballare,
- Anna Worth,
- Eric Beraut,
- Emma L. Aronson,
- Rasmus Nielsen,
- Harris A. Lewin,
- Paul H. Barber,
- Jeff Wall,
- Nathan Kraft,
- Beth Shapiro,
- Robert K. Wayne
Affiliations
- Rachel S. Meyer
- R.S. Meyer is Assistant Adjunct Professor and CALeDNA Director, UC Santa Cruz (UCSC)
- Miroslava Munguia Ramos
- M. Munguia Ramos is CALeDNA Program Manager, UC Los Angeles (UCLA)
- Meixi Lin
- M. Lin is Graduate Student, UCLA
- Teia M. Schweizer
- T.M. Schweizer is Research Associate, Colorado State University
- Zachary Gold
- Z. Gold is Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Washington and NOAA Fisheries, formerly at UCLA
- Dannise Ruiz Ramos
- D. Ruiz Ramos is Biologist, USGS Columbia Environmental Research Center, formerly at UC Merced
- Sabrina Shirazi
- S. Shirazi is Doctoral Candidate, UCSC
- Gaurav Kandlikar
- G. Kandlikar is Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Missouri, formerly at UCLA
- Wai-Yin Kwan
- W.-Y. Kwan is Freelance Software Engineer
- Emily E. Curd
- E.E. Curd is former Postdoctoral Researcher, UCLA
- Amanda Freise
- A. Freise is Academic Administrator, UCLA
- Jordan Moberg Parker
- J. Moberg Parker is Director of Undergraduate Laboratory Curriculum, UCLA
- Jason P. Sexton
- J.P. Sexton is Assistant Professor, UC Merced
- Regina Wetzer
- R. Wetzer is Curator of the Marine Biodiversity Center, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles
- N. Dean Pentcheff
- N.D. Pentcheff is DISCO Coordinator, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles
- Adam R. Wall
- A.R. Wall is Collections Manager for Crustacea, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles
- Lenore Pipes
- L. Pipes is Postdoctoral Researcher, UC Berkeley
- Ana Garcia-Vedrenne
- A. Garcia-Vedrenne is Postdoctoral Researcher, UCLA
- Maura Palacios Mejia
- M. Palacios Mejia is Postdoctoral Researcher, UCLA
- Tiara Moore
- T. Moore is Postdoctoral Fellow, The Nature Conservancy
- Chloe Orland
- C. Orland is Postdoctoral Researcher, UCSC
- Kimberly M. Ballare
- K.M. Ballare is Postdoctoral Researcher, UCSC
- Anna Worth
- A. Worth is CALeDNA Lab Manager, UCSC
- Eric Beraut
- E. Beraut is Paleogenomics Lab Technician, UCSC
- Emma L. Aronson
- E.L. Aronson is Associate Professor, UC Riverside
- Rasmus Nielsen
- R. Nielsen is Professor, UC Berkeley
- Harris A. Lewin
- H.A. Lewin is Distinguished Professor, UC Davis
- Paul H. Barber
- P.H. Barber is Professor, UCLA
- Jeff Wall
- J. Wall is Professor, UC San Francisco
- Nathan Kraft
- N. Kraft is Associate Professor, UCLA
- Beth Shapiro
- B. Shapiro is Professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, UCSC
- Robert K. Wayne
- R.K. Wayne is Professor, UCLA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3733/ca.2021a0001
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 75,
no. 01
pp. 20 – 32
Abstract
Climate change is leading to habitat shifts that threaten species persistence throughout California's unique ecosystems. Baseline biodiversity data would provide opportunities for habitats to be managed under short-term and long-term environmental change. Aiming to provide biodiversity data, the UC Conservation Genomics Consortium launched the California Environmental DNA (CALeDNA) program to be a citizen and community science biomonitoring initiative that uses environmental DNA (eDNA, DNA shed from organisms such as from fur, feces, spores, pollen or leaves). Now with results from 1,000 samples shared online, California biodiversity patterns are discoverable. Soil, sediment and water collected by researchers, undergraduates and the public reveal a new catalog of thousands of organisms that only slightly overlap with traditional survey bioinventories. The CALeDNA website lets users explore the taxonomic diversity in different ways, and researchers have created tools to help people new to eDNA to analyze community ecology patterns. Although eDNA results are not always precise, the program team is making progress to fit it into California's biodiversity management toolbox, such as for monitoring ecosystem recovery after invasive species removal or wildfire.
Keywords
- biodiversity; ecology; natural resources
- earth and environmental sciences; soil
- spatial variation
- microbiome
- environmental education
- species diversity
- community science
- citizen science
