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It is also well-suited to identifying communities of very small organisms in water samples, such as plankton or bacteria, which are challenging to identify morphologically ( Zaiko et al. Another benefit is that DNA metabarcoding can be used to find rare or cryptic taxa, damaged specimens, hard-to-identify early life-stages and eggs missed by morphological identification ( Lindeque et al. (2015) estimated that the costs of identifying plankton in ship ballast water with DNA metabarcoding were approximately 50% those of costs of identification using traditional morphological-identification techniques. The costs of DNA metabarcoding can be particularly low once laboratory and processing protocols are well-established. The general cost of processing DNA data has declined by over 100-fold in the last ten years ( Reuter et al. 2000).ĭNA metabarcoding has the potential to reduce some of these constraints by improving the efficiency and accuracy of aquatic surveys ( Baird and Hajibabaei 2012). However, logistical and financial constraints often limit these capabilities with respect to spatial, temporal and taxonomic resolution ( Vos et al. With targeted biomonitoring efforts, we can detect changes in the composition of native communities, as well as potential invasive species before they become well-established (Vander Zanden 2008 Hoffman et al. Biodiversity information is often used to prioritise conservation efforts or to characterise the health of aquatic systems along gradients of natural conditions and anthropogenic impacts (Poole et al. Quantifying biodiversity is an essential part of aquatic biomonitoring.