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A new tool to assess lake water quality

Our first manuscript that uses our national surface dataset has been published. You can see the manuscript here or email [email protected] for a copy.

The Lakes380 team has successfully developed a DNA-based method that uses bacteria to assess the current water quality of a lake.

Lakes around the world are being transformed by human actions. Traditional monitoring methods require frequent sampling over multiple years. These tools urgently needed modernisation, and this DNA-based method is our team’s solution.

The team developed the tool using data from lakes which are regularly monitored and showed there was a very good relationship between the two methods (see the graph below).

This method has now been used to predict the water quality of 255 lakes sampled as part of the Lakes380 programme. Of these 159 had never previously been monitored (see map below). Most of the lakes (59 out of 67) with good water quality were in the South Island. In contrast, 100 of the 123 lakes with poor or very poor water quality were in the North Island. Of these lakes, 65% were in catchments dominated by high intensity agriculture.

This new, robust DNA-based tool provides a rapid and cost-effective method that will allow a greater number of lakes to be monitored and more effectively managed in Aotearoa and globally.

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Something in the water

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Lakes Appreciation Month – What do we value about our lakes?

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Sampling for fish eDNA in lakes

Check out these new eDNA posters! eDNA is an ama Check out these new eDNA posters! 

eDNA is an amazing new tool that can help us understand and protect the taiao (environment) - but it can't do everything. It needs to be used to complement other techniques and aligned with Indigenous and local knowledge. These new posters highlight these benefits and provide suggestions on some questions to ask before launching into an eDNA based project!

Email us for a high resolution PDF that you can print out. eDNA@cawthron.org.nz

When working with eDNA projects we like to co-design the project with our partners. We also love sharing our knowledge and helping train the next generation of scientists to become sentinels of the taiao.

#lake #eDNA #ecology #molecularecology #freshwater #lakes380 #cawthron #gnsscience #instaScience⁠ #NZscience
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About

  • The Project
  • The Science
    • Field Sampling
    • Laboratory Analysis
    • Student Projects
  • Science Aims
  • Rohe Studies
    • Rangitīkei Iwi Rohe Study
    • Wairarapa Moana iwi rohe study
  • Virtual Experience
  • Social Science
  • Iwi Relationships
  • The Team
    • Lakes380 Team
    • Advisory Groups
    • Lakes380 Co-lead Institutes​
    • National Collaborators
    • International Collaborators
  • Partners

Resources

  • Contact & Links
  • Blog, News & Publications
  • Video Gallery
  • Results
  • Glossary