Publications by authors named "Zachary J Gold"
Environmental laws around the world require some version of an environmental-impact assessment surrounding construction projects and other discrete instances of human development. Information requirements for these assessments vary by jurisdiction, but nearly all require an analysis of the biological elements of ecosystems. Amplicon-sequencing-also called metabarcoding-of environmental DNA (eDNA) has made it possible to sample and amplify the genetic material of many species present in those environments, providing a tractable, powerful, and increasingly common way of doing environmental-impact analysis for development projects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Fire has a significant impact on herbaceous vegetation, with increased abundance observed after fires at various global sites, particularly in wetter and cooler ecosystems.
- In savannas, the response to fire is much stronger than in forests, with herbaceous vegetation being 4.8 times more abundant in burned areas compared to unburned ones.
- The study highlights that fire plays a crucial role in maintaining the vegetation structure in both savanna and forest ecosystems, affecting grass cover differently in these environments.
Amplicon-sequence data from environmental DNA (eDNA) and microbiome studies provide important information for ecology, conservation, management, and health. At present, amplicon-sequencing studies-known also as metabarcoding studies, in which the primary data consist of targeted, amplified fragments of DNA sequenced from many taxa in a mixture-struggle to link genetic observations to the underlying biology in a quantitative way, but many applications require quantitative information about the taxa or systems under scrutiny. As metabarcoding studies proliferate in ecology, it becomes more important to develop ways to make them quantitative to ensure that their conclusions are adequately supported.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding is increasingly used in ecology and conservation, helping both professionals and communities monitor biodiversity and engage in research.
- The R package ranacapa includes a Shiny web app that simplifies exploratory analyses and visualizations of eDNA data for users without in-depth bioinformatics training.
- The app enables interactive data exploration and presents community ecology analysis results, showcasing its value to community partners involved in eDNA research.