SFS Annual Meeting

5/23/2019  |   09:00 - 09:15   |  150 DEF

A PRELIMINARY LOOK AT DNA METABARCODING STREAM AND RIVER DIATOMS IN A NATIONAL SURVEY Diatoms are increasingly being used as bioassessment tools, particularly for measuring the effects of nutrient enrichment caused by human activities in watersheds. Diatoms are effective indicators and are frequently used because they often dominate the algal component of periphyton in lotic systems. Their use in bioassessment indices depends on accurate identification and enumeration, which has associated challenges in terms of cost, time, and effort. To help with these taxonomic challenges, we have begun a preliminary study using DNA metabarcoding for molecular genetic identification of diatoms collected from ~1000 sites as part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2018-19 National Rivers and Streams Assessment. As the first national scale survey that includes molecular data for diatoms, this work presents its own challenges and opportunities for investigating DNA metabarcoding as a tool for bioassessment. We will discuss our laboratory and data workflows, early analysis results, lessons learned, and plans for future work in applying molecular genetics to diatom bioassessment. Other research at regional and watershed scales is providing additional insights into the use of diatom metabarcoding as an approach to stream bioassessment.

Erik Pilgrim (Primary Presenter/Author), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, pilgrim.erik@epa.gov;
Biologist/Environmental Genomics/Principal Investigator

Nathan Smucker (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, smucker.nathan@epa.gov;


John Darling (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), U.S Environmental Protection Agency, darling.john@epa.gov;


Brent Johnson (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, johnson.brent@epa.gov;


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5/23/2019  |   09:15 - 09:30   |  150 DEF

BIOMONITORING IN NORTHEASTERN BRITISH COLUMBIA: INCREASING KNOWLEDGE OF BASELINE CONDITIONS IN AREAS OF OIL AND GAS INTEREST Northeast British Columbia has been the focus of much petroleum exploration over the past 60 years. There are several large rivers that flow through this area and cross provincial and territorial borders. The BC and federal governments have operated under a joint water quality monitoring agreement since 1985 and have worked together over the last 10-15 years to expand biological monitoring and assessment in BC. Biological monitoring can be an effective method for assessing aquatic ecosystems in remote areas like northeast BC, where costs for routine chemical water quality monitoring are high due to travel requirements and ability to meet laboratory holding times is not possible. The Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring Network (CABIN) bioassessment tools have been developed for watersheds in northeast BC. This baseline information will be critical for the assessment of future development in the area as well as the investigation of potential climate change effects in the north. Preliminary assessments have been conducted at several sites in the area of oil and gas development, but further work is required to differentiate the potential effects of climate variability versus the potential effect of oil and gas development.

Stephanie Strachan (Primary Presenter/Author), Environment and Climate Change Canada, stephanie.strachan@canada.ca;


Sheena Pappas (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Environment Canada, sheena.pappas@ec.gc.ca;


Jolene Raggett (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Jolene.Raggett@gov.bc.ca;


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5/23/2019  |   09:30 - 09:45   |  150 DEF

DEVELOPMENT OF A MACROINVERTEBRATE BIOLOGICAL CONDITION GRADIENT (BCG) MODEL FOR LARGE RIVERS USING HESTER-DENDY SAMPLES The biological condition gradient (BCG) is a conceptual model that describes changes in aquatic communities along a gradient of increasing levels of anthropogenic stress. Biologists from Wisconsin and Minnesota participated in the development of a quantitative BCG model for large rivers, including great rivers (e.g., Mississippi River), using macroinvertebrate Hester-Dendy data. The panel of aquatic biologists calibrated the BCG model by assigning macroinvertebrate samples to BCG levels. The panelists’ criteria for assigning samples to BCG levels were recorded and used to identify quantitative rules for sample membership into each BCG level. Fuzzy set theory was then used to incorporate these rules into a model which can replicate the panelists’ decisions. The resulting BCG model can interpret biological condition of macroinvertebrate communities in large rivers of the upper Midwest along a gradient of naturalness and is constant across waterbody types and political boundaries. This attribute makes it desirable for setting consistent and protective biological criteria for macroinvertebrate assemblages in large rivers.

R. William Bouchard, Jr. (Primary Presenter/Author), Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Will.Bouchard@state.mn.us;


Joel Chirhart (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, joel.chirhart@state.mn.us;


Benjamin Lundeen (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, benjamin.lundeen@state.mn.us;


Jeffrey Dimick (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, jdimick@uwsp.edu;


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5/23/2019  |   09:45 - 10:00   |  150 DEF

A 10 MINUTE GUIDE TO DNA METABARCODING MACROINVERTEBRATES DNA metabarcoding is an excellent tool for rapid assessment of biodiversity. This presentation will outline a workflow from start to finish, allowing the processing of 80+ macroinvertebrate bulk samples within 10 work days, including bioinformatics. Two DNA extraction methods are presented, one relies on homogenized specimens while the other utilizes DNA from preservation ethanol, thereby keeping the specimens intact and available for subsequent morphological identification. By parallel processing of samples in 96 well plates, the presented workflow is highly scalable. Additionally, negative and positive controls are introduced to assess reliability of the results. We demonstrate the importance of well-thought out protocols using sequence data from mock communities, and we highlight inherent shortcomings and limitations of metabarcoding. Finally, bioinformatics solutions are briefly presented. This talk will provide you with a good understanding of the basics of metabarcoding. For a more in-depth look, you are invited to participate at the metabarcoding workshop on Sunday!

Vasco Elbrecht (Primary Presenter/Author), Centre for Biodiversity Genomics (University of Guelph), elbrecht@uoguelph.ca;


Bilgenur Baloglu (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Centre for Biodiversity Genomics (University of Guelph), bbaloglu@uoguelph.ca;


Thomas Braukmann (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Centre for Biodiversity Genomics (University of Guelph), tbraukma@uoguelph.ca;


Dirk Steinke (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Centre for Biodiversity Genomics (University of Guelph), dsteinke@uoguelph.ca;


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