The Integrated Coastal Observatory 1.0

This metadata entry contains information about the Integrated Coastal Observatory (ICO), which was a coordinated network of partners along the coast of British Columbia who are using eDNA to monitor marine biodiversity. This diverse network includes First Nations, government scientists, citizen scientists, and NGOs. At the core of this initiative is the desire to generate high-quality open data that can be used by our partners to quantify regional biodiversity. Environmental DNA samples from seawater are collected monthly to track the diversity of fish present at each partner location site. The resulting data provide an important tool for monitoring changes in diversity over broad spatial and temporal scales. Our results demonstrate the advantages of democratizing the collection and dissemination of eDNA-based biodiversity data. Long-term eDNA-based monitoring in coastal BC will help us to measure ecosystem health and track the impacts of climate change and other disturbances on marine biodiversity.