Environmental DNA Freshwater Switzerland VaudCatchment Modipl 2020

Catchment-based sampling of river eDNA integrates terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity of alpine landscapes From 22-Jun-2020 to 26-Jun-2020, we sampled five sites comprising one low, two intermediate and two high-elevation sites per catchment (Fig. 1a). We visited two catchments per day—one in the morning and one in the afternoon—for a total of ten catchments. All samples per catchment were collected within a maximum four-hour period by three groups of samplers. The intermediate and high-elevation sites were situated along two tributaries leading into the low-elevation site of the river. We used three filters for each relative elevation class and filtered 60 L per relative elevation class. We sampled 30 L per tributary for a combined volume of 60 L at the intermediate and high-elevation sites. In total, 180 L were sampled in total per catchment. A filtration device composed of either the Athena® peristaltic pump (Proactive Environmental Products LLC; 1 L/min nominal flow) or the Subspace® underwater peristaltic pump (Subspace Pictures; 1 L/min nominal flow), combined with a VigiDNA® 0.2 µM cross-flow filtration capsule (VigiDNA, SPYGEN) was used in order to filter a large water vol