Volta

Suitability of molecular taxonomy for assessing polluted sediments using the NemaSPEAR[%] index

Assessing the ecological consequences of marine and freshwater contamination is an important use of biological indicators. The NemaSPEAR[%] index is a nematode-based index for the evaluation of sediment quality and an expedient complement to macroinvertebrate-based indicator systems, especially for fine, cohesive sediments. While the NemaSPEAR[%] index in its original form is morphologically based, in this study the nematode communities of 38 locations with known sediment contamination were analyzed by light microscopy and metabarcoding to demonstrate the validity of a molecular-taxonomy-based NemaSPEAR[%] index. The results showed that the molecular-based index can reliably distinguish between sites of good, moderate, and bad pollution status. Moreover, a greater congruence with molecular read abundances were obtained after the morphology-based NemaSPEAR[%] index was corrected for differences …

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