The protection, preservation and restoration of aquatic ecosystems and their functions are of global importance. For European states it became legally binding mainly through the EU-Water Framework Directive (WFD). In order to assess the ecological status of a given water body, aquatic biodiversity data are obtained and compared to a reference water body. The quantified mismatch obtained determines the extent of potential management actions. The current approach to biodiversity assessment is based on morpho-taxonomy. This approach has many drawbacks such as being time consuming, limited in temporal and spatial resolution, and error-prone due to the varying individual taxonomic expertise of the analysts. Novel genomic tools can overcome many of the aforementioned problems and could complement or even replace traditional bioassessment. Yet, a plethora of approaches are independently developed in different institutions, thereby hampering any concerted routine application. The goal of this Action is to nucleate a group of researchers across disciplines with the task to identify gold-standard genomic tools and novel ecogenomic indices for routine application in biodiversity assessments of European fresh-and marine water bodies. Furthermore, DNAqua-Net will provide a platform for training of the next generation of European researchers preparing them for the new technologies. Jointly with water managers, politicians, and other stakeholders, the group will develop a
Sharing data is a keystone of collaborative science. A fundamental barrier, however, can be a lack of knowledge on what is being collected, where, and by whom. The aim of NETLAKE (COST Action ES1201) was to build a network of sites and individuals to support development and deployment of automatic sensor‐based systems on lakes and reservoirs in Europe. To support this, NETLAKE developed a metadatabase which could provide answers to questions on where lakes were monitored, details on the frequency and duration of monitoring, contact details, and which sensors were being used. Development included challenges related to time and resources, and indeed to communication between lake scientists and database experts. In total, metadata for 71 European lakes were captured. The resulting data revealed interesting facts; for example, seven sites had archives that spanned over a decade, only seven of these lakes were used as drinking water sources, and one was a large fish pond. GLEON, the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network, and two pan‐American projects are now adding their metadata and the metadatabase is developing into a tool for the global community which can promote high frequency monitoring and facilitate network science.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.