This session is dedicated to exploring environmental DNA (eDNA) as a tracer of transport processes, whether hydrological, geophysical, or ecological across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Our primary focus is on genetic signals in freshwater — particularly riverine—but we also welcome contributions that link present-day eDNA patterns to longer-term records preserved in sediments. Beyond rivers, we are interested in studies from wetlands, groundwater, as well as, lakes, coastal waters, and oceans.
Presentations in this session will address the methodologies, applications, and implications of eDNA for understanding the movement, persistence, and transformation of biological material within hydrological and geophysical systems. We encourage contributions that investigate how eDNA distribution is shaped by transport mechanisms, degradation, and environmental drivers such as flow, sediment dynamics, and biogeochemical conditions and what that knowledge can reveal about the physical processes. Studies that integrate laboratory analyses, modeling, or sediment archives to connect scales and processes are particularly welcome.
We also seek contributions that push the boundaries of how eDNA is collected and mobilized. This includes innovative sampling strategies such as custom-built sensors and samplers, automated or distributed collection networks, and citizen science approaches that expand spatial and temporal coverage through crowd sampling.
By bringing together researchers working on diverse systems and approaches, this session aims to advance our understanding of eDNA as both a biological tracer and ecological record, fostering new interdisciplinary collaborations between physical and biological earth sciences.
Mikayla A. Borton