Paper short abstract:

By combining environmental DNA and local ecological knowledge from fisherfolk and traditional navigators, the impacts of the anthropogenic pressures on the composition of reef communities in Pacific Islands will be assessed.

Paper long abstract:

Accurately monitoring marine communities remains a challenge. Yet with rapidly changing marine diversity it is key to understand how marine systems are changing in response to anthropogenic pressures to mitigate the species decline and habitat degradation.

Environmental DNA is a way of assessing the species in an area and has rapidly gained traction as a way to non-invasively track marine biodiversity in recent years. The use of eDNA will be evaluated by considering the benefits and drawbacks of this method for monitoring marine ecosystems in remote Pacific Islands. Additionally, this monitoring method will be combined with local ecological and traditional navigational knowledge. The knowledge from traditional navigators will be incorporated by studying important oceanic features (surface slicks) to attempt to understand their ecological role and how they influence ecological processes in the island reef communities.

The aim of this study is to explore the diverse marine communities in the waters of Pacific Islands, establish baseline communities and assess how they are being affected by climate change. Comparing the differences between the islands will be key in pinpointing areas of higher impact and vulnerability to species declines in the future. Trends of species shifts will be compared to trends recorded by local fisherfolk through surveys. This project will build on previous studies evaluating environmental DNA and its potential for large scale citizen science use, specifically on sailing vessels.