Data from: Consistent drivers of coastal biodiversity across the tree of life
Data files
Jul 13, 2026 version files 727.78 GB
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README.md
2.32 KB
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sequencing_data.tar
727.78 GB
Abstract
Coastal ecosystems are threatened by global change but remain understudied despite their importance for biodiversity and human societies. For instance, most coastal studies and monitoring programs focus on a few groups of organisms, due to methodological limitations. However, high-throughput sequencing of DNA from environmental samples (eDNA) now facilitates taxonomically broad studies of coastal biodiversity. Here, we conducted a very comprehensive study of coastal biodiversity patterns using multi-marker eDNA metabarcoding of nearly 1,000 water and sediment samples covering the strong salinity gradient from the North Sea to the Baltic Sea. We included the major coastal habitat types and measured a range of environmental variables. Importantly, we found that across the tree of life, i) salinity was the best predictor of community composition and richness, ii) hard-bottomed habitats were coastal biodiversity hotspots regarding both species richness and unique sequences, and iii) water and sediment samples harboured very different biological communities. Furthermore, we found geographically structured intraspecific genetic variation and detected 91 marine species not previously documented in Denmark. Our study suggests similar drivers of coastal biodiversity and community composition across the tree of life, and demonstrates the potential of holistic eDNA biomonitoring for future management of coastal ecosystems locally and globally. This repository contains the raw sequencing data from metabarcoding and associated files.
Summary: Coastal ecosystems are threatened by global change but remain understudied despite their importance for biodiversity and human societies. For instance, most coastal studies and monitoring programs focus on a few groups of organisms, due to methodological limitations. However, high-throughput sequencing of DNA from environmental samples (eDNA) now facilitates taxonomically broad studies of coastal biodiversity. Here, we conducted a very comprehensive study of coastal biodiversity patterns using multi-marker eDNA metabarcoding of nearly 1,000 water and sediment samples covering the strong salinity gradient from the North Sea to the Baltic Sea. We included the major coastal habitat types and measured a range of environmental variables. This repository contains the raw sequencing data from metabarcoding and associated files. The data are published under the Creative Commons Zero waiver (CC0). The code that was used by the authors is available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21171915.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.gmsbcc334
Description of the data structure and content
The archive sequencing_data.tar contains three main folders, one for each barcode used in the study (16S, 18S, COI). Each folder contains zipped folders that each correspond to a sequencing library. The sequencing libraries are named such that the first letter denotes the sample substrate (S for sediment or W for water), while the following number denotes the sampling season/campaign (1 for spring and 2 for autumn). The PSU number refers to the specific subset of samples included in the library, while the final number indicates the PCR replicate number included for each sample (_1 for rep. 1).
Each zipped folder contains the following files: raw fastq files, a batch file (batchfileDADA2.list), a tags file (tags.txt), and an MD5 file (MD5.txt) for file integrity verification. The batch file contains the primer sequences and the minimum length required for a read after trimming of primers and tags. The tags file contains the sample names and their corresponding tag combinations (forward and reverse). The batch and tags files are needed for trimming and demultiplexing of the raw reads.