Dr Kathryn Korbel1, Prof Grant Hose1, Dr Anthony Chariton1, Ms Kitty McKnight1, Ms Merrin Adams2, Dr Paul Greenfield2
1Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, 2CSIRO, Sydney, Australia
Major developments that impact aquifers require assessments of potential impact as part of the approvals process. Regulatory authorities across Australia vary in terms of their requirements and processes for assessing impacts to groundwaters and their dependent ecosystems and in terms of requirements for post-approval monitoring. While there are several robust and effective state-based methodologies for sampling groundwater ecosystems, there are no standardised sampling approaches, and those that exist do not incorporate recent advances in analysis using environmental (e)DNA to detect and identify biota.
The aim of this study is to outline a standardized approach to groundwater sampling for biomonitoring by investigating the effects of purging, sample volume and sampling method (traditional ‘collect and count’ versus eDNA metabarcoding) on the assessment of biodiversity for routine groundwater biomonitoring. Fifteen sites in the Namoi catchment (NW NSW) were sampled using a suite of different approaches. The richness and composition of stygofaunal and microbial assemblages will be compared across the different sampling protocols, including comparing sample volumes, net and pump methods, and eDNA and eRNA for characterising biological communities. This project will outline optimal sampling protocols in terms of costs, feasibility and ease of sampling considering the logistics of working in remote field locations, which can be used by environmental consultants for the assessment of groundwater biodiversity and health.
This research is being funded by the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment on the advice of the Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining Development.
Biography:
Dr Korbel is a freshwater ecologist working as a post-doctoral researcher and lecture at Macquarie University. Her research employs a combination of traditional collection methods as well as eDNA/eRNA techniques to investigate both eukaryotic and prokaryotic communities to describe ecosystem functions and microbial processes within groundwaters. In the past she has developed various tools for monitoring and assessing freshwater ecosystem health, most recently including a specific index to monitor and assess groundwater health. Dr Korbel has worked on establishing protocols for eDNA sampling of groundwaters as well as developing frameworks for assessing multiple stressors within freshwater ecosystem. Her recent work has focused on understanding groundwater microbial ecology and functions in response to human changes, as well as investigating the nature of water and biotic exchanges within the hyporheic zone.
Kathryn is part of a team of scientists that are investigating the validity of several methods used regularly by groundwater ecologists. This research includes establishing standard protocols for collection of eDNA from both water and sediments, laboratory practices as well as investigating the fate of eDNA within aquatic environments.