Review DNA metabarcoding Macrozoöbenthos

Although studies of DNA metabarcoding in freshwater environments are conducted for some years now, applications in marine environments are relatively recent and still scarce (Taberlet et al. 2018). International networks are formed to boost the knowledge of metabarcoding freshwater indicator groups like fish, macrofauna and diatoms (Leese et al. 2016), which addresses topics like biological sampling, lab processing, bioinformatics, biotic indices and implementation in policy and legislation. For the marine environment the potential benefits are probably the same as for freshwater (e.g Bourlat et al. 2013, Leray & Knowlton 2016, Wangensteen & Turon 2016, Goodwin et al. 2017).

This report presents the current state of affairs for metabarcoding macrobenthos based on an extensive literature study. This report provides the foundation for a research proposal which aims to fill the gaps in our knowledge in order to get the eDNA methodology implemented in monitoring and assessment activities in the marine environment.