Next Generation of Environmental Monitoring


 Federal and state agencies have begun using residual genetic information taken from the environment—environmental DNA or eDNA—to help make management regulatory decisions. Environmental can provide water, soil, air samples about living parts of ecosystems with unprecedented scope, in some cases providing broad surveys species present others pinpointing hard-to-find species. However, standards for analysis interpretation only recently to arise nascent field eDNA analysis. As this new valuable source begins influence implementation environmental laws, we survey existing federal uses review requirements relevant natural resource management—in particular, under data-hungry Endangered Species Act National Policy Act. We find that are already data, and, most part, these likely meet legal controlling statutes regulations. Though legally acceptable, social factors degree which a technology becomes widespread agency practice. future scenarios uptake offer recommendations driving broader adoption useful enabling decisions grounded as data source.