Aquatic organisms release a constant amount of DNA into the water, known as environmental DNA (eDNA). The Danish Environmental Protection Agency, in collaboration with NIVA Denmark and the Natural History Museum of Denmark, has been monitoring eDNA from non-indigenous species in Danish waters.

By: Steen W. Knudsen

For many years now, NIVA has analyzed water samples for the presence of environmental DNA (abbreviated: ‘eDNA’), both in fresh and marine ecosystems. Among other things, NIVA Denmark has completed the MONIS project (‘Monitoring of non-indigenous species in marine waters’ 2014-2023) on behalf of the Danish Environmental Protection Agency.

In continuation of the MONIS project, in May 2022 NIVA Denmark acquired a so-called ‘digital droplet Polymerase Chain Reaction’ machine (ddPCR machine) and had it installed in the laboratory at the University of Copenhagen at the Natural History Museum of Denmark which NIVA Denmark uses to make analyzes of eDNA.